MADRID, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Atletico Madrid has suffered an injury setback with the news that summer signing Alex Baena is sidelined until September due to a muscle injury.

The club announced that the winger, who arrived from Villarreal in a big-money move, suffered a "low grade muscle injury" during Wednesday's training session.

That means he will miss next weekend's home match against newly promoted Elche and the following weekend's away match against Deportivo Alaves. Baena is also a major doubt for Spain's forthcoming World Cup qualifying matches away to Bulgaria and Turkiye on September 4 and 7, respectively.

Baena is expected to recover in time for La Liga's resumption after the international break, with Atletico scheduled to face his former club Villarreal.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone has several options to fill Baena's spot in the starting lineup. He may choose to start Alexander Sorloth against Elche, with Julian Alvarez dropping into a deeper role, or he could give recent signing Giacomo Raspadori a chance, following the Italian's substitute appearance in Atletico's opening day defeat away to Espanyol. ■