Fofana has struggled to stay fit since his move to Chelsea from Leicester. In the 2023/24 season, he sustained a cruciate ligament tear that kept him out for a year, and he then missed a further 36 games for a hamstring injury, and then surgery thereafter.
He has opened up, however, on how difficult his injury woes have been, telling the club's website: "In football it’s hard to take your time because there is a game every three days, but he [Maresca] protects me and he pushes me in a good way,’ says Fofana.
"I had hamstring surgery and you need to be careful when you come back. He doesn’t take risks with me because he wants, step by step, for me to be able to play every three days.
"The target is to play every game; we need to carefully progress step by step towards that. Also, he protects me because of the type of player I am: aggressive, fast, not scared to have duels on the pitch. I understand it, and it’s what I feel as well. I agree with it. The most important is to continue to progress."