Chelsea's Joe Cole could face surgery in a bid to save his season after the injury he picked up last month failed to respond to treatment.
The England midfielder suffered a stress fracture of the foot against Manchester United last month and is still wearing a surgical boot to protect his foot.
It was first thought that the Cole would be back in the New Year, but if the player goes under the knife then he could be out for up to two months, possibly longer.
Manager Jose Mourinho is now left with a difficult decision that could make or break Cole's season.
The Chelsea boss told The Sun: "With this injury, sometimes the medical philosophy is for surgery, while some other medical philosophy is to wait for the bone to heal.
"But, at the moment, I don't know how long Joe Cole will be out."
Mourinho also declared his love for old team Porto in a statement proclaiming that Chelsea would not come close to the Portuguese side that won both the UEFA Champions League and Uefa Cup.
"My team is undoubtedly the Porto side that won the Uefa Cup. It was a group of players that went from nothing to the moon," he added.
"The Chelsea of today could be seen as superior because we have the better individual players but, in terms of playing as a team, Porto was second to none.
"That was the team I took more pleasure in building."