Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana has seemingly suggested that he expects to return to action before the end of the season.
On Friday afternoon, head coach Enzo Maresca revealed that the centre-back would struggle to recover from a hamstring injury over the next five months.
Fofana has been absent since sustaining the issue against Aston Villa on December 1, bringing his 12th Premier League start of the season to an abrupt halt.
Rather than make his return in January as was initially anticipated, it remains unclear when the France international will next represent the Blues.
However, the 24-year-old appears to have dismissed suggestions that his 2024-25 campaign have already been written off.
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"I don't know why he said that"
According to L'Equipe, Fofana is of the opinion that he does not require surgery on his injured hamstring.
Should that prove to be correct, the player could return within the next couple of months, something which Fofana has seemingly expressed to a fan account.
Instagram account 'Team Fofana' appear to have received a response to their post on the defender from Fofana himself, playing down Maresca's comments.
Fofana seemingly said: "It's not true! I'm not out for the rest of the season, I don't know why he [Maresca] said that. I will be back in 4-6 weeks."
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What happens next?
Unless Chelsea put out an official response, Maresca is likely to be quizzed on the matter when he speaks to the press ahead of next weekend's FA Cup tie against Morecambe.
Regardless of the current situation, Fofana is out of action until the end of February at the earliest, and Maresca is realistically unlikely to react strongly to the comments.
The bigger dilemma is whether Chelsea sign a new centre-back before the end of January when Benoit Badiashile is also sidelined through injury.
Teenage academy graduate Josh Acheampong got the nod against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon in what was his first Premier League start.
Darren Plant
