Chelsea are waiting to see if winger Eden Hazard will be able to play at the beginning of the next season after breaking his right ankle.
Hazard picked up his injury while training with international side Belgium on Sunday.
The official Twitter account of Belgium posted an update on Sunday night that to confirm that the forward had sustained a fracture to his right ankle.
Update | Medical imaging showed that @hazardeden10 has a fracture in his right ankle #belcze #estbel #roadtorussia
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) June 4, 2017
It did not give an update for his recovery but it has been reported that Hazard could be out for around three months, which would rule him out of the opening weeks of next season.
The absence of the star forward will be a shattering blow to Chelsea after his huge contribution to their recent title win.
The 26-year old helped the Blues lift the Premier League silverware scoring 16 goals and providing five assists in his 36 league appearances.
Owing to the injury, Hazard will miss out on his country’s international matches against the Czech Republic on Monday night and the World Cup qualifier against Estonia later in the week.
The Chelsea star looks like he will be on the sidelines for the club’s pre-season matches in Singapore which will take place at the end of July.
During pre-season Antonio Conte’s side are set to face Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and fellow English club Arsenal, before taking on the Gunners again in the Community Shield at the beginning of August.
Whether Hazard’s ankle will be fit for the start of the 2017/18 season remains unknown.
His injury comes just after comments made about his future at the club when he was asked whether he’d consider an offer from Spanish-side Real Madrid.
“Of course I would consider it if Madrid made an offer,” Hazard said at the weekend.
“I am keen to win trophies. It would be great to win the Champions League. But Chelsea’s goal is to win the Champions League as well. Honestly, I do not know what will happen.”
However, with a broken ankle, a move would seem unlikely, and undoubtably his boss Conte will want him fighting fit ready to begin their 2017/18 to retain the title.