Ghana international Christian Atsu has returned to his parent club Chelsea from loan club AFC Bournemouth for treatment on a sustained injury.

The Chelsea player on loan at Bournemouth picked up a stress fracture on international duty and returned to Stamford Bridge in a bid to be fully fit for his loan campaign according to manager Eddie Howe.

The Black Star will stay out of football action for a while and will not be involved in Sunday’s clash away at Southampton as his loan manager Howe said:

“He picked up a knock on international duty, that’s why he hasn’t been seen and is now back at Chelsea for treatment.

“This has been dragging on for about six weeks. He got a knock on his shin in the first international break that put him out for a couple of weeks and then he got kicked again a couple of weeks after and that has resulted in him having to go back to Chelsea for treatment.

“Unfortunately we haven’t seen Christian here for about a month. It’s going to take time for him to get fit again. It has been a real shame. The timeframe is unknown at the moment, but it is a stress fracture on his shin. We don’t think it is anything serious, there will be no long-term problems, but he may be back at Chelsea for another three to four weeks.

“He’s a very talented player and the big disappointment for us is that every time we have got him fit and conditioned to play he has then picked up – due to no fault of his own – an injury. He has been very upbeat; he is a lovely character. He played well in the two Capital One Cup games – we would love to see more of him.”

Christian Atsu had trouble getting enough playing time on loan at Everton last season. The Ghanaian transferred to Premier League new boys AFC Bournemouth this season and impressed during their pre-season games until a back injury sidelined the former Porto player.

Atsu has since played just two English League Cup games for Bournemouth, his last appearance coming on the 22 September.