Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata is facing up to two months on the sidelines after sustaining a hamstring during their defeat by Manchester City on Saturday.
The 24-year-old Spanish marksman joined the Blues in the summer from boyhood club Real Madrid after it became apparent his first team opportunities were sparse.
Morata has since established himself at Stamford Bridge, having bagged seven goals across nine matches in all competitions, with his recent injury coming as a blow to manager Antonio Conte.
Morata, who has won 22 international caps with Spain, was assessed by national team doctors who confirmed he picked up a grade two myofascial injury ruling him out of their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Israel.
An injury such as this can take four to eight weeks to recover meaning the defending Premier League champions could be without their leading scorer for some time.
If Morata misses a month, Chelsea will be without their first-choice centre forward for PL – Crystal Palace (A), Watford (H) and Bournemouth (A) in the Premier League as well as their League Cup tie against Everton at Stamford Bridge.
More worryingly, Morata would be expected to miss the two Champions League matches against Roma; the Serie A giants are second-place in Group C, two points behind leaders Chelsea.
A statement issued by the Spanish FA on Monday read: “The medical team of A Selecao have received the medical reports of Dani Carvajal and Andres Iniesta from their respective clubs, and have also performed an [MRI scan] on Alvaro Morata at the University Hospital Sanitas La Moraleja, Madrid, where the muscle injury has been detected [as a grade II myofascial injury to the hamstring muscles].”
Next up for the Blues, after this latest international break, is a trip to pointless and scoreless Crystal Palace, who are bottom of the league.
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