Chelsea of England right-wing-back, Victor Moses was missing at The Blues’ first training session of pre-season, as the Super Eagles star was among the array of stars excluded on account of their outings at the World Cup.
With Moses yet to return in full with the club, despite already getting back to London from the World Cup in Russia, he was not available when The Blues commenced their pre-season drills on Saturday.
Moses will, however, hope to be part of the squad when Chelsea kick-start their pre-season with a friendly against Perth Glory on July 23 before entering the International Champions Cup at the end of the month.
While Moses was absent, Alvaro Morata, Ross Barkley, Pedro, Marcos Alonso and Danny Drinkwater were all present for the training session.
The Chelsea players had only received word from Antonio Conte’s staff this week that they would be returning for a full pre-season training camp starting on Monday.
Conte is still currently in charge, but Maurizio Sarri is expecting to be cleared to replace him as manager of Chelsea at the start of next week.
The long-running saga surrounding Conte has rumbled into Chelsea’s pre-season, causing new signings to be delayed as the coach and staff push for their optimum compensation from owner Roman Abramovich, which is for a year’s salary and an optional year.
The agreement with Conte is in place and Sarri now expects his appointment on a three-year contract worth around £5.6million a year after tax to be ratified on Monday.
While Conte took charge, Moses was not among the lot, as Chelsea’s non-World Cup 2018 players returned to their Cobham facilities on Saturday morning for their first pre-season training session and standard procedure medical checks.
Numbers were diminished due to several players’ involvement in Russia, but those who didn’t feature in Russia were put through their paces with fitness and stretching exercises.
Cesc Fabregas posted a picture with David Luiz, Emerson Palmieri and Davide Zappacosta in the physio room, as the players went through medical tests after the session.
