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Port Adelaide recruit Orazio Fantasia may not return from knee surgery until closer to the AFL finals, his coach Ken Hinkley says.

Prized Port Adelaide recruit Orazio Fantasia may not play again until the cusp of the AFL finals.

The former Essendon goalsneak's debut season at Port was halted by knee surgery during the club's midseason bye in early June.

But the surgery has failed to fix Fantasia's problems, Power coach Ken Hinkley says.

"It's a frustrating one for us, as it is for him," Hinkley told reporters on Wednesday.

"He has seen the surgeons again this week to make sure that we're on track with what it is. It's now push ahead and see where it goes.

"We think it's still probably two or three weeks (from a return) but it might not be that, it might be longer.

"It (his knee) hasn't quite responded the way we have liked. It's a week-to-week proposition a bit.

"The surgery we were hopeful would fix it mainly, but there's still some problems."

Fantasia made an instant impact for the finals-bound Power, booting 19 goals in his initial 10 games before being sent for surgery.

But his latest woes continue a concerning trend - last season at Essendon he managed only five games when beset by soft-tissue injuries.

The 25-year-old was also hampered by frequent injuries in 2019 when he played 15 games for the Bombers and in 2018 when playing only 13 matches.