Still bothered by knee pain, the 23-year-old Chelsea defender has been forced to withdraw from the Les Bleus training camp, which begins this Monday at Clairefontaine. Benjamin Pavard has been recalled.
Wesley Fofana’s adventure with the French France team is full of pitfalls. Highly appreciated for his qualities by Didier Deschamps, the Chelsea center-back will not be in Clairefontaine at 4pm this Monday. As was the case last September, in consultation with the Blues and Les Bleus medical staff, the former Saint-Etienne player preferred to postpone his call-up.
The reason? For the time being, persistent knee pain is preventing him from playing two matches in a week. He is therefore out for Israel on Thursday at the Stade de France and Italy on Sunday in Milan in the Nations League. As a reminder, he did not play a single minute in October against Israel (1-4) and Belgium (1-2).
Dylan Martinez / REUTERS
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Fofana not included in Chelsea’s European squad
A starter on Sunday against Arsenal (1-1) in the weekend’s Premier League clash, Fofana was forced to withdraw from the squad this morning, as revealed by L’Equipe and RMCinformation we can confirm. This is a repeat of the situation experienced by the 23-year-old French international (1 cap), who has already undergone knee surgery and had to withdraw last September for the same reasons.
It should be remembered that the latter is not included in Chelsea’s list of players for the European Cup, so as not to play too many matches. Recruited in August 2022 for 82 million euros from Leicester, the former Stephanois is the focus of a lot of attention from his club.
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Pavard’s unexpected comeback
To replace him, Didier Deschamps called up… Benjamin Pavard. Pavard, who didn’t play a single minute during the Euro, had been sidelined since the summer tournament. The coach, without publicly expressing his displeasure at his attitude in Germany, did not condemn him outright. As proof of this, the Inter Milan defender will be at Clairefontaine for the November sequence. He’ll be starting behind first-choice players such as Konaté, Upamecano and Saliba, but may still get some game time. One thing’s for sure: Deschamps hasn’t forgotten him.