Gonzalo Higuain is likely to miss AC Milan's Serie A encounter with Sassuolo on Sunday, according to Gennaro Gattuso.
Higuain has scored three goals in all competitions this season following his loan move from Juventus, but the forward did not feature in Milan's 1-1 draw with Empoli last time out due to a leg injury.
And Gattuso, whose side sit 13th having won just one of their five Serie A fixtures so far, has revealed the 30-year-old is unlikely to be fit in time for the trip to high flying Sassuolo.
"He is still bothered [by the injury]," Gattuso told a news conference.
"To risk losing a player for months does not make much sense, we have to evaluate. The last word will be up to him, but if he is not 100 per cent, I do not want to risk it."
Two players who could have replaced Higuain are Andre Silva and Carlos Bacca, thriving at Sevilla and Villarreal respectively.
But despite confirming that he would have preferred to keep Silva, Gattuso said he was set on a move away from San Siro.
"You know how it went, when a player wants to play consistently," he said of Silva's loan to Sevilla.
"We did everything to hold him back, but he expressed the need going to play elsewhere, like Carlos Bacca.
"I talked to him but he wanted to go because the family was good in Spain."
