‘Confirmed’ - Liverpool suffer transfer blow as club release statement

Chelsea have confirmed that Wesley Fofana has suffered a hammer injury blow.

The defender has been forced to have surgery for an ACL injury - and will now be sidelined for the long term.

Fofana joined the Stamford Bridge side from Leicester City last summer for a fee of £70 million. But he was restricted to just 22 appearances in his maiden campaign, having sustained a serious knee injury in October. That ruled Fofana out of action for five months and now he'll be on the treatment table for a prolonged period yet again.

A Chelsea statement said: “Defender Wesley Fofana has undergone anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery.

“The 22-year-old did not travel to America for the club's pre-season tour due to specialist medical assessments, which unfortunately confirmed that an operation would be required.

“Wesley will now begin his recovery and work with the club's medical department at Cobham during his rehabilitation phase.”

With Fofana unavailable for Mauricio Pochettino's outfit, it means that the chances of Levi Colwill departing have decreased markedly.

Colwill spent last season on loan at Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool are admirers of the central defender. The 20-year-old recently played a key role as England under-21s claimed European Championships glory. Chelsea are reportedly not willing to lose Colwill - and are now in an even stronger position not to allow the academy product to depart.

As things stand, Pochettino's senior central defensive options include Colwill Thiago Silva, Trevor Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile. Kalidou Koulibaly was sold to Saudi Arabia side Al-Hilal and the versatile César Azpilicueta left for Atletico Madrid.

What’s more, Badiashile is currently unavailable with a hamstring injury he picked up in May and has been left out of Chelsea's pre-season tour of America.