Chelsea midfielders N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will not be part of the Chelsea squad traveling to the United States for their pre-season tour, the club confirmed upon releasing the full squad list for the trip. This is allegedly due to the two players’ Covid vaccination status.
According to the United States’ travel entry requirements, all travelers over the age of 18 are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with the exception of U.S. citizens and some other exceptions.
Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel stated that while he had received two doses of the Covid vaccine, he would not compel his players to follow in his footsteps. He also revealed that he had no idea of how many of his players had been vaccinated and who they were.
Loftus-Cheek tested positive for COVID-19 in August last year while Kante received a positive test result just a month later.
Chelsea’s pre-season tour squad will travel on Saturday and spend a week at a training camp in Los Angeles before facing Club America in Las Vegas, Charlotte FC in Los Angeles, and Arsenal in Florida.
