Enzo Maresca clarifies Wesley Fofana injury timeline following dispute

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has moved to end the confusion surrounding centre-back Wesley Fofana's latest injury.

Fofana went down with a hamstring injury in early December which he immediately described as "a slight warning" and "nothing serious", but after a month on the sidelines, Maresca publicly revealed there was a chance the 24-year-old could be out for the remainder of the season.

The Italian's statement was reportedly met with confusion from Fofana, who is alleged to have taken to social media to claim Maresca's comments were simply "not true". A timeframe of between four and six weeks is mentioned in quotes attributed to Fofana.

"We speak the same language in terms of we communicate between each other in English and in French, so it has been quite clear," he said. "I spoke with Wes - the 12 to 16 weeks the club mentioned is the situation.

"Wes is thinking he can recover sooner than that. We are all happy if Wes recovers and will be available for tomorrow, but we are going to see.

"There is not any problem, I just told you what the medical staff said to me, that it is around 12 and 16 weeks. Wes is thinking he can recover earlier than that. We are all happy if Wes is back as soon as possible."

Concerns over Fofana's availability have sparked speculation of a move to re-sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace. Loanee Trevoh Chalobah, who is also with the Eagles, could be recalled to add more numbers.

"The only thing I can say is Marc Guehi is a Palace player," Maresca stressed. "I like Marc for sure but he is not our player. But I like also the central defenders we have. I also like different types of central defenders in Italy, Spain and France but that doesn't mean we are going to buy a player.

"It is a normal situation I think when you have central defenders injured that the speculation is there. At the same time, there is nothing there.

"[The Chalobah situation] is exactly the same. Unfortunately I have to give you the same answer. Trev is a good player but in this moment he is a Palace player, so we will see."

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