While Chelsea had plenty of reasons to celebrate its 2-0 Premier League victory over Fulham on Saturday, ominous clouds formed over the Blues. Striker Liam Delap went down with a serious hamstring injury and it's not looking too good.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said after the win that Delap could miss up to eight weeks due to the injury. Delap went down on the pitch and immediately called for Chelsea medical personnel to check him out.
Once they did, Delap was helped off the pitch. He briefly chatted with Maresca, then headed to the Chelsea locker room for medical attention.
Maresca spoke with TNT Sports after securing the shutout victory, according to The Athletic. The Chelsea manager said that Delap's injury happened as the striker was playing at "full speed." Maresca also said that, as far as the recovery period goes, he hopes that it is not long "but this kind of case can be six, eight weeks."
Delap signed a $40 million (£30million) contract this summer with Chelsea after playing for Ipswich Town.
Maresca also said that it's possible for Chelsea to add another striker now that Delap is out for a period of time. Additionally, Nicolas Jackson was apparently on his way to Bayern Munich. According to a report after the match, Chelsea will now not go through with the transfer at all.
Tyrique George took Delap's place on the pitch once he left the match. Delap's departure leaves Joao Pedro as Chelsea's sole effective striker at this time.
"When you have two strikers it is enough, when one of them is injured for weeks it is not enough," Maresca said. "Today we played for more than one hour with Tyrique and he did brilliant."
It's also worth noting that the summer transfer window is closing quickly. Chelsea might have to make a move now, even after recalling Jackson to the team.