Chelsea boss Emma Hayes admits USWNT star Catarina Macario is unlikely to return from ACL injury in 2023

Macario sustained an anterior cruciate ligament in June 2022 and has not featured since. She joined Chelsea from Lyon in the summer transfer window but is still waiting to make her debut for the Women's Super League champions.

It was initially hoped that Macario would be able to return to the field in April, but she suffered another set-back. It is not yet known when the United States international will be available for selection again, but Hayes does not expect her to make her first Blues display in 2023.

"I don’t think she’ll play this half of the season. I hope and if she does, it’ll be a bonus. But I don’t think the time she’s been out for we would take that risk," Hayes said in a press conference. "When you’ve been out a long time — this isn’t about me withholding, this is about the recognition that with all the will in the world, you can put a player on the grass with a knee history, and sometimes, if the knee blows up, you then have to come back off of it again. She had some other issues she had to resolve.

"It takes a bit of time to realise when you can go harder with them. Because she’s new to us I’m not as confident knowing those timelines as I would do Guro (Reiten) or Melanie (Leupolz). If she (Macario) makes it back before Christmas, it’d be brilliant, but probably my gut tells me it won’t happen this side of Christmas."

Hayes will see out the rest of the season as Chelsea manager but will then leave the club in the summer. She will likely team up with Macario afterwards, however, as the successful Blues boss has agreed to take over as the head coach of the USWNT.

Hayes' Chelsea team are in action on Sunday when they face Liverpool in the WSL. Reigning champions Chelsea are top of the table after six matches, with Arsenal sitting three points behind them.