Socceroos striker Mohamed Toure requires shoulder surgery and faces months on the sidelines, putting him in doubt for Australia's AFC Asian Cup campaign.
Toure had been in red-hot form with Norwich City, scoring five goals in the opening seven games of the English Championship season, including firing home a terrific opener against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday before injuring his shoulder in a tussle.
"Mo Toure will be out for months and he will need surgery. So that's a bad one," Norwich coach Philippe Clement told The Pink Un website at a Norwich community event on Tuesday evening.
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Toure had already been ruled out of Australia's upcoming matches against Brazil in Townsville on Friday night and Brisbane next Tuesday, with Nishan Velupillay called up instead.
But the South Australian is now set to miss a significant chunk of his domestic season. While the full timeline on Toure's recovery has yet to be confirmed, the Asian Cup, which starts on Jan. 7, is just three-and-a-half months away. Even if Toure is able to return before then, his build-up would be restricted.
It leaves Nestory Irankunda and Tete Yengi as the Socceroos' main options in the No. 9 spot for the games against Brazil, and potentially the Asian Cup.
Toure has scored 16 goals and tallied four assists in 21 games in all competitions since joining Norwich in January. The 22-year-old entered the World Cup with high hopes but failed to fire.
Toure started Australia's first two World Cup games against Türkiye and the United States before coach Tony Popovic chose to use Irankunda ahead of him for games against Paraguay and Egypt.
UPDATED SOCCEROOS SQUAD TO FACE BRAZIL:
Goalkeepers: Patrick Beach, Jacob Chapman*, Paul Izzo
Defenders: Kealey Adamson*, Aziz Behich, Kasey Bos*, Alessandro Circati, Milos Degenek, Jason Geria, Lucas Herrington, Jacob Italiano, Dylan Leonard*, Harry Souttar
Midfielders: Jackson Irvine, Riley McGree, Connor Metcalfe, Aiden O'Neill, Paul Okon-Engstler, Patrick Yazbek
Forwards: Eli Adams*, Yaya Dukuly*, Nestory Irankunda, Nishan Velupillay, Tete Yengi, Marcus Younis*
* Denotes uncapped