CHELSEA are set to be without Liam Delap for an extended period of time once again.
The £30million striker dislocated his shoulder in the 0-0 draw with Bournemouth on Saturday.
According to talkSPORT’s Alex Crook, Delap is set to be on the sidelines for six to eight weeks.
Delap has already missed two months of his first season at Stamford Bridge due to a hamstring injury and had only returned at the end of October.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca admitted after the Bournemouth game that things didn’t look good for Delap.
He said: “Unfortunately he has already been out for two months and he has to be out again. We don’t know for how long, but it looks quite bad, his shoulder.
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“He has been unlucky. We are also a bit unlucky because we need that kind of a No9.”
Delap is yet to score in the Premier League for Chelsea but he did bag in the impressive win over Barcelona in the Champions League in November.
The 22-year-old, who is yet to make his full international debut for England, had plenty of suitors in the summer before choosing Chelsea.
The striker had a release clause once Ipswich were relegated from the Premier League, but Chelsea fended off competition from Manchester United and Newcastle to secure his services.
As a result, the Blues ousted Nicolas Jackson from the squad and he made a move to Bayern Munich on-loan.
When Delap suffered his hamstring injury right at the end of the summer transfer window, Chelsea attempted to pull out of the loan deal and keep Jackson as cover.
Jackson, of course, did not want to do that and in the end, the club decided to persevere without him.
So Chelsea have a lot of eggs in the Delap basket but it seems they will not have him available again until towards the end of the January transfer window.
The club may be tempted to make a move next month as a result as they sit fifth and eight points behind leaders Arsenal.
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