Bayer Leverkusen are not hopeful of Robbie Kruse returning to action again this season following his injury sustained with Australia in the Asian Cup.
The Socceroos won the tournament, staged on home soil, for the first time in their history with a 2-1 extra-time victory against South Korea in the final on Saturday.
However, Kruse, 26, was only able to celebrate the triumph on crutches following his 71st-minute substitution after picking up an injury.
It had first been feared that the Leverkusen attacker had suffered an Achilles tendon injury, but it was later reported that the problem was not as bad as expected.
The Bundesliga club, though, are not getting their hopes up about Kruse returning to their first-team squad this season.
"We are still waiting for pictures and results. If at all, then we might see Robbie back on the pitch at the very end of the Ruckrunde [the second half of the season]," Leverkusen squad manager Jonas Boldt told Rheinische Post.
Leverkusen are now waiting for Kruse to return to Germany, the club has told ESPN FC, where he will then be examined by their doctors and the prognosis of the injury, which is believed to be a complicated ligament problem in his ankle, will be determined.
Kruse had only just battled his way back into the Leverkusen squad following an anterior cruciate ligament tear suffered last January, which saw him miss the 2014 World Cup.