Leicester look set to be without Wesley Fofana for a significant period after the defender confirmed he sustained a fibula fracture in the side’s 3-2 win over Villarreal on Wednesday night.
Fofana went down in a heap and appeared in serious discomfort following a reckless scissor challenge from Villarreal forward Fer Nino in the 58th minute, while the Foxes held a three-goal advantage in the friendly.
The 20-year-old – who won the FA Cup in an outstanding debut season for Leicester last term – was given oxygen and received lengthy treatment before being applauded off the pitch by the 17,000-strong crowd at the King Power Stadium.
Brendan Rodgers’ side managed to hold on for victory as Fofana was taken to hospital but the Frenchman’s devastating injury undoubtedly overshadowed the evening, with the club now likely to look for cover at centre-back before the summer transfer window closes.
After sharing a distressing picture – which has since been deleted – from his ambulance ride, the youngster took to Instagram to thank fans for their messages of support and vowed to return ‘soon and stronger’.
‘Hello guys, many thanks for all your messages,’ Fofana said.
‘It is a bad day today but I am in a tremendous club with a wonderful medical team.
‘I will give you news as a soon as I have a final diagnosis but we already know that I have a fibula fracture.
‘I will come soon and stronger: do not worry.’
Fofana has received countless messages of support from fans and team-mates on social media, with Jamie Vardy backing the centre-half to return ‘stronger and better’ from the injury.
James Maddison, meanwhile, shared a picture of Fofana with his 1 million followers on Instagram along with the caption, ‘Je t’aime petit frere’, meaning: ‘I love you little brother’.
Summer arrival Ryan Bertrand, who provided two assists in Leicester’s win, felt the team performed admirably following Fofana’s horrendous injury in the second half.
‘Obviously, everyone is thinking about Wes at the moment but we’ll find out more on that,’ the full-back told Leicester’s official website.
‘That kind of took over the occasion and nobody likes that.
‘Other than that it was a good performance from the boys before that, we gave a good account of ourselves, good fitness.
‘But importantly, we came into the game thinking, “Yeah, it’s pre-season”, but now it’s time for results so we managed to do that.
‘Unfortunately, what happened happened and it was a tough game for the change of team. They did very well to come on with the atmosphere and deal with the game after that.’
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