Mauricio Pochettino has revealed Chelsea will decide whether Reece James has surgery on Monday.
The 24-year-old defender sought external specialist advice after injury his hamstring in the 2-0 defeat away at Everton last weekend.
The Blues captain has tried to avoid surgery in recent seasons but the recurring nature of the issues could force his hand.
Pochettino explained the decision will be made at the start of next week, with James set for a long spell on the sidelines regardless of whether he has surgery.
"First, we need to decide how we will proceed with his recover," the Chelsea boss said.
"[On] Monday, we need to see how it is going to be, see the situation and then proceed in trying to find a different way to approach the problem and find different alternatives.”
James has missed more than 50 percent of Chelsea's matches in the last 18 months and hasn't completed a full match since April. The club had hoped that James could be carefully eased back but now face at least three months without their highest-ever paid defender.
Pochettino was cautious about giving too much information away on how James is handling the situation, revealing simply that he is finding it very difficult.
“It is not a nice situation because I know how he and his family are suffering," Pochettino continued.
"He was so excited to be back again and to be fit to help the team in this situation and, yes, we need to be cautious in the way we talk.
"But we are going to support him. We are here to support him to try and help and we are all thinking in terms to find a solution for as soon as possible to get him with the group, full recovery then try so the same thing doesn't happen again."
