Liverpool and Brighton’s hopes of signing Levi Colwill have taken yet another hit after Wesley Fofana ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. The Frenchman is now expected to miss the majority of the 2023/24 campaign with the devastating injury less than two years after suffering a broken leg in pre-season during his time with Leicester.
Fofana only featured 15 times in the Premier League during his debut season at Stamford Bridge due to another serious knee problem and now Chelsea have been left light in defence.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are continuing to insist that ex-Brighton loanee Colwill is not for sale under any terms this summer, particularly after losing Fofana to injury.
The Blues are keen to build around the U21 European Championship winner and have offered him a bumper new contract.
However, Liverpool and Brighton, who are now exploring a move for Fiorentina’s Igor, remain keen to do business with Chelsea who are refusing to soften their stance even though the player is yet to commit to staying put.
Colwill was excellent at the Amex Stadium last season and helped Brighton achieve a stunning sixth-place finish to qualify for the Europa League.
Now he looks set to continue his development with Chelsea with Mauricio Pochettino keen to build his defence around the Englishman.
The Blues confirmed Fofana’s shocking blow on their club website on Tuesday after he was left behind for their pre-season tour of the USA.
It read: “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.”
Chelsea now have just four senior centre-backs within their squad including Thiago Silva, Colwill, Beniot Badiashile and Trevoh Chalobah.
The Blues were open to selling Chalobah following interest from Inter Milan but they are now likely to keep the former Lorient and Huddersfield loanee.
Badiashile is still not fully fit and could miss the start of the season with a groin injury.
The former Monaco centre-back stayed behind at Cobham on Monday as his Chelsea team-mates flew to North Carolina.
Kalidou Koulibaly is yet to have been replaced following his transfer to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
The same applies to captain Cesar Azpilicueta who has joined Atletico Madrid.
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