LONDON: Australia forward Sam Kerr will miss many months after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament during Chelsea’s warm weather training camp in Morocco.

Kerr averaged nearly 30 goals in the previous three seasons for Chelsea, who are top of the Women’s Super League with a three-point lead over Manchester City. This season she had scored nine goals in the league and Champions League.

A club statement said: “Sam will be assessed by a specialist in the coming days and then begin her rehabilitation with the club’s medical team.”

Kerr will miss Australia’s Olympic Games qualifiers and potentially the Paris Games later this year if the Matildas qualify without their captain. She is the latest in a string of high-profile women players to suffer an ACL injury.

Kerr, who joined Chelsea in 2019, has scored 99 goals in 128 matches for the London side, winning the league four times, the FA Cup three times and the League Cup twice.

She has also won the Golden Boot twice, and was runner-up to Spain’s Aitana Bonmati at the Ballon d’Or awards last year.

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