Kenedy has been sent home in disgrace from Chelsea’s pre-season tour and the Football Association is now seeking the Brazilian’s observations on the derogatory social media posts which have sparked such outrage in China.

The young wing-back, who has since attempted to apologise for the Instagram posts, left the squad in Singapore before the 3-2 friendly defeat by Bayern Munich on Tuesday as Chelsea attempt to defuse the tension generated by Kenedy’s comments. The club had earlier issued their own apology for the posts which, they conceded, had caused “great offence and hurt the feelings of the people of China”.

They have promised the player has been “reprimanded and disciplined” – he is understood to have been fined – and chose to send him home having digested the full scale of the reaction in China since the messages were posted before Saturday’s game against Arsenal at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing. The FA has now written to Kenedy, via his employers, seeking his thoughts on the matter and will await a response before determining whether they will take disciplinary action against the 21-year-old.

Kenedy, who spent an unproductive spell on loan at Watford last season and remains very much on the fringes of Antonio Conte’s squad, had posted two videos on Instagram, one with a caption in Portuguese which translated as “Damn, China” and another of a security guard asleep which was tagged: “Wake up China. You idiot.” Chinese fans and media reacted furiously to the posts, which were quickly deleted, accusing the Brazilian of xenophobia and racism.

The player, signed for £6m from Fluminense in 2015, was booed by sections of the crowd on his introduction from the bench in Beijing. “China does not welcome a player like this, nor does China welcome a team like this,” read an editorial in The People’s Daily, the biggest newspaper group in China and the official paper of the Chinese Communist Party. “Kenedy’s absurd comments are not only impolite but also uneducated. He has created an incident that has humiliated China, an incident that so many fans simply cannot tolerate.”

The player had posted his apology on social media. “Hello my friends, just wanna say sorry if someone was sad because I used the expression ‘porra’, was no racism, just an expression … big hug,” he wrote after the game against Arsenal at the weekend. Chelsea’s own apology was lengthier, reflecting the gravity of the situation. “Kenedy’s actions were a mistake that he will learn greatly from,” read their statement. “His behaviour does not represent the entire team and does not align with the club’s high expectations and strict requirements of its young players. He has been strongly reprimanded and disciplined.

“Everyone at Chelsea Football Club has the utmost respect and admiration for China and loves our Chinese fans. It is because of this that the negative impact we have seen over the last two days has left us shocked and saddened. Once again, we sincerely apologise for the hurt caused to our Chinese fans as well as to the Chinese people. We offer this apology with utmost sincerity. We have listened carefully to the criticism and will use the lessons learnt over the last two days to improve our processes in future.”

Kenedy was absent as Conte’s team succumbed to Bayern at the national stadium in Singapore, with Álvaro Morata emerging from the bench to play the last 27 minutes for the Premier League team following his move from Real Madrid for an initial £58m. His new side were already 3-1 down at that point but Morata, playing on the left of a front three, set up Michy Batshuayi as Chelsea – who have loaned their England Under-21 winger Izzy Brown to newly promoted Brighton & Hove Albion – pulled the scoreline back to 3-2.