Wesley Fofana injury: Surgeon details how long Chelsea star is likely to miss after setback confirmed

Chelsea have been dealt a major blow ahead of the new season. The Blues have lost a key defender ahead of the new season, with Wesley Fofana picking up a serious Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury during pre-season.

Fofana was a £7million investment for Chelsea, but he is now set for a long spell on the sidelines after picking up the injury during the club’s pre-season preparations. Fofana picked up the injury ahead of Chelsea’s trip to the USA, and he will remain in West London for treatment, as has been confirmed by a club statement.

Chelsea confirmed: “Defender Wesley Fofana has undergone anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery.

“The 22-year-old did not travel to America for the club’s pre-season tour due to specialist medical assessments, which unfortunately confirmed that an operation would be required. Wesley will now begin his recovery and work with the club’s medical department at Cobham during his rehabilitation phase.”

While clubs are always careful not to put timelines on injuries, there is information available on recovery times from this sort of injury, and indeed this sort of surgery. According to UCHealth, the average time to return from this type of surgery is between nine and 10 months, although the recovery time can be as long as a year.

“It takes a while for the graft to become part of the body and go through a process of we call ligamentization, which is becoming a new ligament,” Dr Eric McCarty, an orthopedic surgeon, has said. “That process can take nine or 10 months.”

Some ‘exceptional’ athletes are able to return as quickly as six months, according to the information, but McCarty also warned: “Even then (after recovery), after you’ve done great therapy and have come back to sports, it can sometimes take another year before you feel normal again.”

Fortunately for Fofana, he will have the procedure with a world-class surgeon ahead of working with medics and physios on the same level, but this is a complicated injury nonetheless, and it’s not uncommon to see a number of muscular injuries following a player’s return.