Jean-Philippe Gbamin is facing an extended spell on the sidelines for Everton.
Gbamin, a summer signing from Mainz, played the opening two games of the Blues’ season but has since been ruled out with a quadricep tendon injury.
He was initially forecast to be out of action for eight weeks, only to suffer a relapse in October which added a further three months to that timeline.
The Ivory Coast midfielder, 24, had been scheduled to return to action this month. But Carlo Ancelotti revealed on Friday that Gbamin now requires fresh surgery.
“He had a check with the English doctor,” confirmed the Everton manager.
“Maybe in the next few days he will need more surgery to try to recover him before the end of the season.”
Ancelotti also revealed that Andre Gomes could make his Everton comeback in next month’s trip to Arsenal after returning to full training this week.
The ex-Barcelona midfielder has been ruled out since suffering an horrific ankle injury in November’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham.
He added: “We have the possibility to prepare him for Arsenal.
“He had a bad injury but all the work the staff did was fantastic, I was surprised because he started training with the squad quickly.
“It’s like having a new player. I don’t want to say [any] more.
“We have a break after the Crystal Palace game. I already spoke with the player, he agreed and the medical staff agreed, to have a plan to put him on the pitch against Arsenal.”