Published on October 13, 2024 at 12:29 p.m. Emmanuel LANGELLIER
Back with Chelsea and the French team, Wesley Fofana has been injured a lot in recent years. But the young French defender retains his ambition intact.
After the struggles, the ball, the game and the thirst for the field. The real one, the one on the green rectangle with the teammates, and the opponents, especially. Wesley Fofana, who we could see in the starting eleven of the France team against Belgium in Brussels, Monday evening in the League of Nations (8:45 p.m.), has found a dazzling smile and comes back to life. It’s not that he’s that “old” – he’s only 23 – but the defender has accumulated so many problems in recent years that just playing again with continuity fills him with happiness. And if in addition, the Blues can benefit from it…
More than two years of unavailability
The former member of Saint-Etienne, transferred to Leicester for 40 million euros in 2020 then to Chelsea for 90 million euros two years later, was away from the field for more than two years in total when we combine the periods of unavailability. Victim of a fracture of the fibula of the left leg in August 2021, Wesley Fofana had a serious relapse by being injured in the cruciate ligament of the right knee during the summer of 2023 before being further injured in the meniscus of the left knee… last February . It was very hard, physically and morally. But Fofana still held on like hell, paid attention to his diet, his body and his “head” by recruiting an osteopath, a head nutritionist and a mental trainer.
Fofana: “If I am in the French team, it is to become a starter”
And Fofana finally returned to the field this summer. Through an agreement made with Chelsea, that of only playing one match per week until the beginning of 2025, to take care of this body marked by the suffering endured. Then, in sight with the Blues at the start of the season, he found the French team, Didier Deschamps appreciating him and continuing to follow him attentively. “I’m doing well and I’m happy to make my comeback after the injuries. I couldn’t wait to be able to play again and I’m delighted to be back in the Blues jersey. Fit, healthy and happy. This is the most important. We have had a good start to the season with Chelsea and with each match, I feel better on the pitch, with benchmarks,” the young central defender confided to journalists on Saturday. Monday evening, Fofana could start alongside William Saliba, his former partner at ASSE. “I played with William for a long time. We spent many years together in Saint-Étienne. I’m happy that he is starting in the French team. It makes you want to, and it also makes you want to play with him, he said. If I am in the French team, it is to become a starter, not to stay on the bench. » The ambition is there, always, anchored in the body, despite past trials.
