Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana’s knee injury is not as bad as first feared, with Graham Potter hopeful that the Frenchman will be back in action before the World Cup.
The Blues’ headline summer signing limped off in tears just 10 minutes after scoring the opening goal in Wednesday night’s Champions League victory over AC Milan at Stamford Bridge, colliding painfully with Rafael Leao to curtail an improved performance after a couple of vital mistakes made in the win at Crystal Palace.
There were initially fears that Fofana - who was pictured leaving the stadium on crutches with his right knee in a brace - had suffered a setback that would keep him sidelined for a considerable period of time, just over a month after finally completing his £75million move from Leicester to west London following a protracted transfer saga.
However, Standard Sport reported on Thursday evening that the first set of tests on the injury had returned positive results, with hope that the 21-year-old may return before Chelsea’s final pre-World Cup fixture against Newcastle on November 12.
Potter has now confirmed that optimistic prognosis, with Fofana likely to only be sidelined for a few weeks with what is understood to be a strain.
“Wesley’s knee is not as bad as we thought so that is good,” the Chelsea boss told reporters at Cobham on Friday. “It will be a few weeks I think but considerably better than it could be. It’s a possibility [to play before the World Cup].”
Chelsea also received a boost with Marc Cucurella declared fit to start against Wolves this weekend after missing out at Palace and being kept on the bench for the defeat of Milan after illness.
However, N’Golo Kante is still not yet ready to return despite having been back in training in the aftermath of a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined since the fiery London derby draw with Tottenham in mid-August.
“He [Cucurella] was on the bench against Milan and will be involved tomorrow,” Potter said.
“[Kante] is doing more integration with the team but is still not ready. It is what it is and now it’s about getting him back fit so he can sustain a period of play. When he’s back we have to make sure he’s back for good. No frustration, just something we have to deal with.
“The welfare of the player is important. We want to make sure a player is ready and safe and able to play consistently.”
