Chelsea have had an unusual amount of muscular injuries so far this season, especially given Xabi Alonso's team are not involved in any European football.

Less games to play, but Alonso has had a few players now ruled out due to physical problems. The latest being Maxence Lacroix, who, towards the end of the first half in last week's Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool, pulled up clutching his hamstring.

Alonso was asked about the France international's injury a couple of days later and the Chelsea manager said he will be out for a "few weeks". That, though, seems to be the Spaniard's stock answer when talking about how long his players will be missing for; he is very guarded, especially when it comes to injury news.

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Sources close to the situation fear Lacroix could be missing for the remainder of the calendar year. While no official timeframe has been put on when the 26-year-old defender's return, there are fears we will not see him a Chelsea shirt until 2027.

A big blow for Alonso, but when one door closes, another opens. Wesley Fofana now has the chance to salvage his Chelsea career.

Fofana joined Chelsea in 2022 for a £75million (after add-ons) package from Leicester City, but he has not been able to show his full potential during his time at Stamford Bridge. Injuries have played a big part in that but even when he has been on the pitch, careless individual mistakes have been far too common.

In Saturday afternoon's win against Manchester United, where Fofana started his second game on the bounce, the Frenchman was poor. Especially in the first half. In the second half, he improved, but those opening 45 minutes will stick in the mind of a lot of Chelsea supporters.

There were a couple of occasions where Fofana almost gifted Man United the opening goal of the game. Fortunately for the defender, United were too wasteful to take any of their chances, but the match, that ended with Chelsea winning 2-0, could have looked so different.

Alonso is short of options in the centre of defence, so bar anything drastic, it seems almost set in stone that Fofana will keep his place when Chelsea travel to Sunderland at the weekend. One thing is for sure, though: the 25-year-old needs to step his game up.

Fofana is now in a crucial period of his contract at Stamford Bridge. His existing deal is due to expire on June 30, 2029, meaning he will be within the final two years when next summer's transfer window comes around.

The final two years is usually the point where a club feels a decision needs to be made. If they allow x player, in this case Fofana, to enter those last 24 months, they must prepare to take a hit on his resale value. If they want him to stay, then negotiations must get underway over an extension. The former seems much more likely than the latter in Fofana's case.

If Fofana can show in this period where Lacroix is out, potentially for the remainder of the year, that he can be a valuable asset under Alonso, then all options will be considered. If not, then Alonso might look at doing something a bit different to cover Lacroix.

There is the option of moving Josh Acheampong alongside Levi Colwill but the former has flourished so much in recent weeks in his current role.

As mentioned, Fofana seems likely to start at the Stadium of Light on Sunday afternoon. The former Leicester man will be returning to the scene of the crime, so to speak, from the final day of last season where he was shown two yellow cards in the 2-1 defeat and sent off for the second time in the 2025/26 campaign.

Fofana needs to put a bad week behind him and move on. Fofana needs to prove his worth to Chelsea before his compatriot returns from injury.