Chelsea striker Liam Delap could be sidelined until December after injuring his hamstring before the international break, manager Enzo Maresca said on Friday.
Delap signed from Ipswich for £30 million ($40 million) in June and has featured in all of Chelsea’s three Premier League matches so far.
But he was forced off early in the 2-0 win against Fulham on August 30.
“Liam, I think it’s around 10 to 12 weeks, so a long way to go,” Maresca told reporters on Friday.
Chelsea recalled forward Marc Guiu from a loan spell at Sunderland to cover for Delap after Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson left the Blues for Bayern Munich on transfer deadline day.
Maresca also has another forward option in Joao Pedro, who arrived at Stamford Bridge from Brighton in July.
But the Chelsea boss admitted Delap’s injury left him short of forward options ahead of Saturday’s west London derby at Brentford.
“We have the injury for sure now in this moment as a number nine,” he said.
“The only one is Guiu. And Joao (Pedro) can also play there. Against Fulham, we used Tyrique (George) as a nine. So we can also think about him.”
England forward Cole Palmer is nearing a return after missing Chelsea’s victories over West Ham and Fulham with a groin injury and could be involved on Saturday.
But Maresca said there was a question mark over the involvement of Joao Pedro, Estevao Willian and Andrey Santos, all of whom arrived back in England on Thursday after playing in Brazil’s 1-0 defeat to Bolivia.
Moises Caicedo returned late on Thursday following Ecuador’s victory over Argentina.
Brazil’s game took place at an altitude of more than 4,000 metres, creating a further complicating factor in recovery times.
“The three Brazilian players arrived yesterday; they didn’t train, they did some recovery sessions. Moises arrived last night. They’re all a question mark for tomorrow”, Maresca said.
Maresca said winger Alejandro Garnacho was “working well” since his arrival from Manchester United but was not yet 100 per cent fit.
Chelsea, who won the UEFA Conference League and Club World Cup in Maresca’s first season, sit second in the Premier League after three games this term.
The club were charged by the Football Association on Thursday with 74 alleged breaches of rules related to payments to agents between 2009 and 2022.
The FA said the charges primarily relate to the period between the 2010/11 and 2015/16 seasons when the Blues were owned by Roman Abramovich.
“I know the club is satisfied about the situation, about the process,” Maresca said.
“Personally I don’t have anything to add because I don’t have any idea. If I say something, I could be wrong. I just focus on the pitch side, which I can control.
“I don’t think the players are too worried about the situation to be honest.”
