Nottingham Forest are hopeful that Joao Carvalho will return to training in August - and possibly before the start of the Championship season.
The club are reluctant to put a precise timescale on the recovery of the 15m euro man - but the Reds are hopeful his ankle injury will not prove to be a serious, long-term problem.
And, while he is unlikely to be a part of the squad that will head out to Greece for their second training camp of the summer tomorrow, the club have their fingers crossed that the attacking midfielder will be able to resume full training, within a matter of weeks, rather than months.
Carvalho took a hefty blow to his ankle during the first friendly of the summer, shortly before half time at Alfreton. The 22-year-old has been to both London and Portugal for specialist advice on the ligament injury.
And the club are hopeful that the play-maker will make the kind of swift progress they want - and will return to the training ground before the season starts.
It might be longer before Carvalho is fully match fit, as he will have been sidelined for much of the hard work of pre-season and will need to catch up on that fitness work.
But Forest are hopeful that the injury will not impact greatly on his ability to contribute in the Championship, under new head coach Sabri Lamouchi, in the longer term.
Carvalho had to work hard to secure an opportunity under Martin O’Neill, in the second half of last season, but made a positive impact when he was back involved.
He made 30 starts and ten sub appearances in all competitions, following his arrival from Benfica, scoring four goals.
And the former Portugal under-21 international is expected to be an important part of Lamouchi’s squad, when he does return to full fitness.
