Everton are anxiously awaiting results on a scan on winger Yannick Bolasie's knee following reports that the player could miss all of next year with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
The 27-year-old suffered the knock during the Toffees' Premier League fixture at Goodison Park against Manchester United, where a late Leighton Baines penalty spared their blushes to claim a 1-1 draw.
And according to theMirror, Bolasie could face a lengthy spell on the sidelines, with the first scan on the tear revealing that he could miss the entirety of next year, with a return date of 2018.
The horrible news for the player, club and fans is not set in stone however, with the Congolese international set totravel to a clinic in London for a second opinion on the extent of the damage in the coming days, before undergoing surgery at some point next week.
A YEAR! Everton blow as Yannick Bolasie faces a year on the sidelines after suffering knee ligament injury https://t.co/9lnx1ul6rB pic.twitter.com/nu9BkiS9eq
However, even if the time on the sidelines isn't as long as first feared, the normal recovery time for a ruptured cruciate ligament is six to nine months, meaning the player is likely to miss the rest of the 2016/17 campaign.
This will not sit well with boss Ronald Koeman, who has relied on Bolasie for large parts of the season to provide his side with an attacking threat and pace out wide, as well as to link up with Romelu Lukaku up front, producing four assists already this season.