Armando Broja is likely to miss the rest of the season after being told he needs surgery on the knee injury he sustained in Sunday's friendly defeat against Aston Villa.
The 21-year-old has featured prominently under new Chelsea manager Graham Potter having enjoyed a productive spell on loan at Southampton last season.
Broja had been set to play an important role in Chelsea's bid for a top four place over the second half of the campaign but now appears certain to miss the next five month at least, according to The Evening Standard.
The Albania international lasted just 19 minutes against Villa on Sunday after he collapsed in a heap and was taken from the field of play in agony, after which Potter gave a grim outlook.
'It was an unfortunate action, I think he got caught up with their player and the ground,' Potter told Chelsea's official website.
'It doesn't look positive at the moment but it is too early to say. Fingers crossed but it is an awkward one.'
Broja will undergo an operation imminently but his chances of featuring again this term are remote and is more likely to be targeting a return in time for the start of the 2022/23 season.
The striker's absence will represent a severe blow to Potter given how limited his options were in attack, even prior to Broja's injury.
After a promising start, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has struggled for goals since his summer move from Barcelona, while Kai Havertz has yet to convince he is capable of leading the line on a regular basis.
Chelsea are understood to have already finalised a deal for RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku, who missed the World Cup through injury, but the France international isn't expected to arrive until the summer.
It remains to be seen whether Chelsea will enter the marker for a new striker in January but they are said to be among a number of Premier League clubs interested in Atletico Madrid's Joao Felix who has been made available for transfer.
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