Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton will undergo surgery on his hernia on Sunday.
The highly-rated 20-year-old has had the injury since the start of the season and Palace decided to have him operated on after he was forced off in their Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa in midweek.
Wharton has attracted the attention of Manchester City, Man United, Liverpool and Real Madrid with his progress since joining Blackburn Rovers in January last year.
Palace are determined to keep the England international until at least the summer but expect enquiries from elite clubs as Wharton continues to shine.
Their immediate concern is to get him fit and firing on all cylinders for their Premier League campaign as they look to build on last week’s 1-0 win over Tottenham, when Wharton played superbly.
Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton will undergo surgery on his hernia on Sunday
Wharton has been struggling with the injury all season, but the injury flared up again midweek against Aston Villa.
Wharton was substituted after just 27 minutes for Palace’s EFL Cup victory at Villa Park
Three days earlier, Wharton had performed superbly in Palace’s 1-0 win over Spurs
With the international breakthrough in mind, they hope to have him back at the end of the month, if all goes well, when they play matches against Aston Villa and Newcastle United.
Palace will also be without Eberechi Eze and Jefferson Lerma, who have suffered hamstring injuries.
Manager Oliver Glasner said: ‘A lot of managers talk about the same problems, and especially when we look at our injured players – they’ve all played a long tournament in the summer, had no holiday, no preparation and then they’ve played a lot of games. .
“There comes a point where you have to pay the bill, and we’ve had to do that in the last two or three weeks, but it is what it is and we’re still a strong team.