Five senior players will be missing from the travelling party as the Chelsea squad heads to Beijing for the start of their pre-season tour.

After consulting the medical department, they have decided against taking Eden Hazard, who is working his way back to full fitness after suffering a fractured ankle last month.

He will stay behind at Cobham to continue his recovery, as will new acquisition Tiemoue Bakayoko. The France international is still recovering from a minor knee injury which caused him to have an operation at the end of last season.

Both players are expected to miss the start of the season.

Antonio Rudiger, who joined from Roma for £34m, has been granted extended time off having played for Germany at the Confederations Cup. He will join up with the squad in Singapore next week.

Finally, Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic have been told to stay away while Chelsea negotiate their transfers away from the club.

Chelsea are playing three games in the space of eight days. They meet London rivals Arsenal in Beijing on Saturday, before facing Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in Singapore.