Wesley Fofana remains in the infancy of his career but has endured rotten injury luck at Chelsea.
Before the Blues pre-season tour to the United States, the 22-year-old gem underwent anterior cruciate ligament surgery which is set to rule him out of action for several months.
Still new to the dugout, Mauricio Pochettino poignantly reflected on the news, saying:
“We feel all so sad. All we can do is help him. We know it's a tough injury but we hope he can be as soon as possible with the team."
The Argentine added he "hopes" Fofana can play this season but believes that it could be “difficult.”
However, in Fofana’s unfortunate absence, academy product Bashir Humphreys featured heavily across the globe, alerting Pochettino to his frightening potential.
Who is Bashir Humphreys?
The Exeter-born defender signed a scholarship with Chelsea in July 2019 and at the beginning of the 2020/21 season, he captained Ed Brand’s U18 side.
In October 2021 he sealed his first professional contract with the West Londoners and made 23 appearances across all academy competitions, including a debut at development level. His deal was extended until 2024 and he became more integrated with the first team.
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The 20-year-old titan often trained with Graham Potter’s team following a series of defensive injuries at the end of 2022 and made his senior debut in an FA Cup game against Manchester City.
Following this, the youngster moved to Germany, joining Bundesliga 2 side Paderborn on loan until the end of the season. Humphreys made 13 appearances, averaging the second-most blocks per game (0.6) and the fourth-most interceptions (1.1) in the squad.
How good is Bashir Humphreys?
This summer, Nizaar Kinsella revealed that Pochettino was “very impressed” by the centre-back’s pre-season form, as he featured in every game as Chelsea went undefeated.
Moreover, only Christopher Nkunku, Raheem Sterling, Kepa Arrizabalaga, and Conor Gallagher accumulated more minutes in the former Tottenham Hotspur coach’s first few games at the helm.
Therefore, according to the Evening Standard, the 2021 Champions League winners are in talks with Humphreys over a new contract before sending him out on loan, with Coventry City as one of the interested parties.
Meanwhile, Fofana only joined Chelsea for £75m last summer, but recurring injuries have massively blighted his development. In his debut season in the English capital, the Frenchman managed just 17 starts in all competitions, spending more time on the sidelines (20 games) through a previous knee issue.
This was also a theme at Leicester, where he was absent from August 2021-March 2022 with a fibula fracture.
The £200k-per-week titan is clearly wondrously talented, with teammate Ben Chilwell predicting him to have a “massive future” at Stamford Bridge. However, his dismal fitness record is worrying and three separate long-term injuries at his age cast serious doubt over the true validity of the left-back's claim.
If Humphreys can pinpoint some consistency on loan in the manner that Levi Colwill or Ian Maatsen did last season, then he could be on course for regular minutes next year, at the expense of Fofana.
Axel Disasi has already been recently added to the ranks to compensate for Fofana and with Humphreys currently blossoming into a composed, mature and astute defender, it could create fierce competition for starting spots in the coming months.