Scoring your first goal for your club in the Champions League is one of the best moments in football. Wesley Fofana quickly made his mark by scoring his first Chelsea goal against 2021/22 scudetto winners AC Milan. The celebration, however, was short-lived as the Frenchman picked up a knee injury soon after and had to be subbed off in the first half.
A post-match picture of Fofana in crutches raised some serious concerns among Chelsea fans about the severity of his injury. This is where we come into play. We provide clarity on a players’ injury and remove all your uncertainties. In this article, we will be discussing the nature of the injury, its severity, and the different possibilities including the ACL. Let’s get started.
Nature of Wesley Fofana knee injury
By watching back the footage of Fofana’s injury, you can see it was a non-contact injury and his knee was in the forced dynamic valgus position. The valgus position stresses three important structures of the knee joint namely the Medial collateral ligament (MCL), Medial meniscus, and the most feared Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). There could be involvement of any of the mentioned structures. It can be either isolated, association of meniscus with MCL/ACL, or involvement of all three structures i.e the MCL, Medical meniscus & ACL (O’Donoghue’s triad) in severe cases.
Severity of Wesley Fofana knee injury
In Wesley Fofana’s case, fortunately, the French media have provided a timeline update of around 6-8 weeks. This immediately rules out the chances of an ACL rupture which is a long-term injury. Wesley Fofana was seen rubbing the inside of his knee after he went down on the ground right around where the MCL is located. By taking the visuals and timeline into consideration, everything indicates towards a Grade 2 MCL sprain. A Grade 2 sprain indicates partial tear of the ligament.
Final thoughts
Our conclusion of Wesley Fofana’s knee injury to be a Grade 2 MCL sprain has been arrived upon after carefully reviewing the game footage, the information provided by journalists, and by looking at the mechanism of his injury. Of course, it wouldn’t have required this much effort if the club decided to reveal the injury themselves. However, we know how stubborn Premier League clubs can be when it comes to disclosing injuries.
What are your thoughts on Wesley Fofana’s knee injury? Let us know in the comments. If you liked this article, why not read our updates on Kalvin Phillips and Barca’s injury crisis.
