Injured Chelsea starter returns early ahead of Arsenal clash | OneFootball

Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana made a surprise early return from injury last week, putting him in line for involvement against Arsenal later this month month.

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Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana had previously been considered a doubt to face Arsenal on March 16th, with wildly varying estimates on when he might return to action.

When the centre-back first suffered his injury on December 1st, he was expected to miss around five weeks. Manager Enzo Maresca later stated that Fofana could be out for the season, but then scaled that prognosis back in recent press conferences.

Speaking just over a fortnight ago on February 13th, Maresca claimed Fofana would need “at least two or three weeks working before he can be ready to play”.

Once again, it seems that estimate was off.

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Fofana was back with the Chelsea squad for Tuesday night’s match 4-0 win over Southampton, at least a few days ahead of Maresca’s most optimistic schedule. He was an unused substitute.

The 24-year-old now looks to have a very good chance of being fully fit and ready to start by the time Chelsea travel to the Emirates Stadium on March 16th.

Chelsea will still be without some potential starters, including strikers Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu, winger Noni Madueke, and midfielder Romeo Lavia.

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Mykhailo Mudryk also remains suspended. But the rest of their squad are currently set to be available to face the Gunners.