Good news for Chelsea as €70m star return to training ahead of West Ham clash

Chelsea have been handed a key injury boost after Wesley Fofana returned to full team training this week.

The French defender was pictured being put through his paces by manager Graham Potter with the rest of the Blues squad at their Cobham facility on Monday.

Chelsea F.C. will hope that Fofana could be available for a return to competitive action as soon as Saturday, when they face another Premier League capital derby clash against West Ham at the London Stadium.

The 22-year-old, who cost Chelsea £75 million in the summer transfer from Leicester, has made just six appearances for the club so far in all competitions, none since October 5, when he left the field in tears after suffering a knee injury during the opening period of Chelsea’s 3-0 Champions League group-stage victory over AC Milan.

Potter insisted before Friday’s goalless draw with Fulham at Stamford Bridge that Fofana would be stepping up his comeback attempt this week. Fofana’s recovery process has been slow, but he had been participating in portions of training in recent weeks.

Chelsea’s injury crisis is clearing, with Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Raheem Sterling and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all returning to the squad against west London rivals Fulham.

N’Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Denis Zakaria, Christian Pulisic, and Armando Broja are still out injured for the first team, and Mateo Kovacic was also absent against Fulham.

Mykhailo Mudryk struggled with a severe cold before being replaced at halftime against Fulham, but he should be fine to play against West Ham as Atletico Madrid loanee Joao Felix is back after serving a three-game suspension for getting sent off on his debut.

Fofana will be a welcome addition to Potter’s defensive lineup, but it will be difficult for him to surpass fellow countryman Benoit Badiashile, who has excelled alongside the dependable Thiago Silva since joining from Monaco for £35 million in January.