Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana has wiped his Instagram account of any references to his employers.
The French defender was an unused substitute in the Blues’ 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
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Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca opted for a centre-back pairing of Trevoh Chalobah and 19-year-old talent Josh Acheampong.
The Blues manager later explained that Fofana is being eased back into action after five months out with a hamstring injury.
Maresca told the Chelsea website: “Wes was on the bench but was just on the bench to be with us and the plan was for him not to get any minutes.
“Now hopefully for the next one, we can use Wes for some minutes.”
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It is not clear why Fofana has since removed all references to Chelsea from his social media profile – and talkSPORT have contacted the club for comment.
talkSPORT also understands Fofana’s camp are not aware of any issue with Chelsea, which only adds to the mystery.
The 24-year-old made a similar move when trying to force his way out of Leicester in 2022, sparking fears the defender could be unsettled at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea’s injury crisis at centre-back
Maresca has made it clear he wants the club to sign a new centre-back before the transfer window shuts, following an ACL injury to Levi Colwill.
The Blues spent around £40m to sign Jorrel Hato earlier this summer, before the situation was compounded by an injury to Tosin Adarabioyo on the eve of their Premier League opener.
Before the Palace game, Maresca said: “The club know exactly what I think.
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“I think we need a central defender. We are looking for an internal solution but as I said, the club know exactly what I think.”
He added: “When we build, we build with Levi in the middle.
“Last year we played 64 games and we played all 64 games with either Levi or Tosin [Adarabioyo in the middle].
“Now Levi is out. The only other one that he can do that job well is Tosin. But we have Premier League, Champions League, with these kind of players.
“The rest, they can adapt. [Jorrel] Hato is a new one, he never played as the guy in the middle last season [with Ajax], so it’s not about being a central defender.
“Yes, [he is a] central defender but can he do that? It’s different. Also we have players that unfortunately, like Wes [Fofana] or Benoit [Badiashile], they have in this moment some [injury] problems.
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“The one in the middle in my way is so, so, so important. And this is the reason why I said that the club knows exactly what I think about central defenders.”
Fofana’s brutal injury history since joining Chelsea
Fofana has endured a wretched run with injuries since his £75million move to Chelsea, although he featured regularly under Maresca last season before suffering another long-term setback in March.
He was sidelined for the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign after he tore his ACL in pre-season.
The never-ending stream of injuries has left Fofana with just 34 appearances across all competitions for the Blues to his name since he joined from Leicester in August 2022.
Twenty of those came in his first campaign at Stamford Bridge with the remaining 14 taking place last term.
