Dominic Calvert-Lewin will miss the start of the season as Everton are assessing his knee injury to see if it is serious.
It leaves manager Frank Lampard short of strikers for Saturday’s opening game against Chelsea, with Richarlison sold and Salomon Rondon still suspended after his red card against Brentford last season.
Calvert-Lewin, who was limited to 15 Premier League starts in an injury-hit season last year but scored the goal that kept Everton up, was hurt in training and Everton are waiting to see if he will be fit for next week’s trip to Aston Villa.
Lampard said: “We are assessing Dom’s injury. No timeframe has been confirmed and we are pretty sure what level it is, so we are hopeful it is not long term.
“We’ll miss him for Chelsea. He was looking in great physical condition and was training really well. It was a freak injury in training, which does happen.
“It’s a shame but we have to find the solutions to keep ourselves strong without Dominic before he returns.”
