According to reporter Nathan Gissing, Wesley Fofana has ruptured his ACL and will require surgery.

Wesley Fofana has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, football.london understands, and the defender will require surgery on the problem.

The 22-year-old defender did not travel with the rest of his teammates as they undergo their pre-season tour of the United States following a knee injury he suffered. Fofana has undergone a scan on the problem and the results are devastating for the centre-back.

Fofana has been extremely unfortunate with injury problems in recent seasons. In the summer of 2021, while playing in a friendly for former club Leicester City against Villarreal, Fofana broke his leg and was then ruled out for over seven months.

The France international returned in March 2022 and played the remainder of the season for the Foxes before sealing an £80million move to Chelsea a few months later. However, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, Fofana suffered more bad luck.

He picked up a knee injury in October that ruled him out for over two months and then four days after returning to training, he suffered a recurring problem, meaning he was ruled out for a further 55 days. This latest setback, though, means he may miss a very large chunk of the 2023/24 season.

Chelsea now have Levi Colwill, Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chalobah and Benoît Badiashile to choose from in the centre of defence. However, Badiashile is still recovering from a serious hamstring injury he suffered towards the end of the last campaign and did not travel with the rest of the squad for the pre-season tour.