Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said Wesley Fofana has not indicated he wants to leave after the defender removed pictures of himself playing for the club from his Instagram account.
The 24-year-old, who was an unused substitute during Sunday’s 0-0 draw at home to Crystal Palace, previously did the same in 2022 as he sought a move away from Leicester, just before sealing a £70million switch to Stamford Bridge.
The 19-year-old academy graduate Josh Acheampong was preferred alongside Trevoh Chalobah for the Palace stalemate despite a long-term injury to fellow central defender Levi Colwill, though Maresca said afterwards that it was never in his plans to use Fofana, who missed a large part of last season after injuring his hamstring in December.
He is expected to play some part when Chelsea face West Ham at the London Stadium on Friday.
“I spoke with Wes every day, he’s very happy, first of all because he’s back from injury, he’s joining all the sessions with us,” said Maresca.
“He was on the bench just to be with us but from (Friday) he can get some minutes. We are happy, he is happy. About Instagram, I don’t have any idea because I don’t use social networks.”
The France international, who has been limited to 34 appearances for the club in three seasons due to injuries, subsequently suffered online abuse on Wednesday after removing all references to Chelsea from his Instagram.
“Wes is happy, we are happy, there is nothing to add on that,” said Maresca. “If there is abuse on Instagram, it’s never good, not good for Wes, not for any player or human being in the world. It’s something unfortunately we cannot control.”
Injury to Colwill, whom Maresca considers to be his best ball-playing central defender, has led to disagreement between the Italian and the club’s recruitment team.
The head coach said before the Palace match that “the club knows” that he favours signing a replacement given Colwill’s role in helping the team build attacks from the back.
Tosin Adarabioyo, who missed the Palace match but is available to face West Ham, is considered the only player with a suitable profile to step into Colwill’s position.
Maresca, who has previously dismissed the possibility of using Fofana in the role after a failed experiment during last season’s win over Bournemouth, has been told by the club he must make do with what he has.
“We used Josh in the last game, we are trying to find some internal solutions,” he said.
“We are looking for internal solutions, I showed it in the last game against Palace. We are trying to find solutions.
“I repeat again – probably I need to improve my English. We are looking for internal solutions and we will see if something happens.”
Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku will not feature against West Ham as the club continues to seek to offload them.
Jackson is understood to be an option for Newcastle should Alexander Isak leave whilst a loan bid for Nkunku from Bayern Munich was rejected this week with the club preferring a permanent sale.
