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Of the 14 Chelsea players with more than 1,000 Premier League minutes last season, nobody had a better points per match record than Wesley Fofana. The issue is that he was only able to feature in 14 games.
Of those, Chelsea won eight and drew four, losing just twice. One of those defeats was Enzo Maresca's first in charge, at home to Manchester City on the opening day.
Unfortunately for Fofana, his season effectively ended before Christmas. After going down with a hamstring injury in the 3-0 victory over Aston Villa at the start of December, he would only go on to play twice more.
The Villa injury kept him out for almost three months. During that period, Chelsea lost five of their 13 games, drawing three and winning only five.
They were able to carry on well without Fofana for a few weeks but hit a patch of no wins in five, extending to two from 10. As the most athletically gifted centre-back at Chelsea with a unique skills profile of speed and dribbling rather than passing for ball progression, he was a real miss.
Levi Colwill had built a strong and growing relationship with Fofana and was soon chopping and changing between Tosin Adarabioyo or Trevoh Chalobah. It took until mid-April for things to really settle down in that position.
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Throughout which time, Fofana was once more on the treatment table. He did not play any part of the five wins from the final six games run which pushed Chelsea back into the Champions League. The Frenchman watched on in Wroclaw for the Conference League final and did not get named in the travelling squad for the Club World Cup.
Once more, Chelsea have taken the chance to give him proper time off to recover from surgery. The aim is for him to be more available in 2025/26. It is easier said than done, though, because he was only tasked with playing once a week last season and still found himself sidelined for the majority of it.
Since his move in August 2022, Fofana has made 34 appearances for Chelsea in 36 months. He has so far cost more than £2million per game after three years, something that rises to around £2.5million when wages are included. It is around £25,000 per minute played.
However, as shown by Chelsea success when he is playing, the effect is transformative. Especially as Maresca looks to deal without Colwill in the long run.
Fofana cost £70million and has been increasingly linked with a move away. His relationship with Marseille and home country France have drawn plenty of noise at times, but Chelsea have not been fielding bids for him and chose against buying a new defender in Colwill's absence.
The good news is that Chelsea plan to have Fofana in the squad on the opening day of the new season. He was kept out of friendlies over the weekend against Bayer Leverkusen and Milan.
Watching on from the bench alongside fellow injury-hit pair Benoit Badiashile and Romeo Lavia, Fofana attended both games and has been in training. Unlike Badiashile and Lavia, Fofana is at least preparing for Crystal Palace with his teammates.
Having not played a match for what will be over four months by the time things kick off, it will be yet another big moment for Fofana. In the road towards recovery, Chelsea have seen Reece James get over consistent problems in 2025, and the hope will be that the same happens with Fofana.
It is easier said than done, but Maresca will be grateful of having the £70million star back among his options. If the past is anything to go by, Chelsea will need to make the most of him.
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