Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic is facing three weeks out with a dislocated shoulder.
The tough Serbian picked up the injury in the first half of Chelsea’s 3-0 friendly win over RZ Pellets on Wednesday.
He was replaced by Baba Rahman for the second half but will miss Chelsea’s friendlies with Liverpool and Real Madrid in USA.
The scale of the injury is not thought to be too serious and 32-year-old Ivanovic has travelled with the Chelsea squad to continue treatment.
Ivanovic’s injury blow is a concern to new Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, who has a limited amount of time to prepare his squad for the new Premier League season.
Conte, who was in charge of Italy at Euro 2016 this summer, is using the tour of the USA to run the rule over his new players and matches with Liverpool and Real Madrid play a bit part in that.
The Serbian’s latest problem isn’t likely to rule him out for too long but will see him touch and go for the Blues’ first Premier League game with London rivals West Ham on August 15.
Chelsea are continuing discussions over bringing in a new centre-back regardless with Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly and Kostas Manolas of Roma their prime targets.
They have also been offered Benfica’s Victor Lindelof.
Conte has already added to his new squad at Stamford Bridge with the signings of young Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi from Marseille and Leicester’s Premier League winner N’Golo Kante.
Both players have arrived at the capital club for a total sum of more than £60million.
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