Chelsea midfielders N'Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will sit out the club's pre-season tour in the US due to their vaccination status.
The Blues jetted off to Nevada on Saturday ahead of friendlies against Club America, Charlotte FC and London rivals Arsenal in the States.
However, neither Kante nor Loftus-Cheek was included in the travelling Chelsea squad as they are either unvaccinated or have not been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Although testing rules have been lifted, regulations in the US dictate that any non-citizens aged 18 or over must be fully vaccinated - meaning they have had two doses of a vaccine - to enter the country.
A club statement read: "N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will not travel due to their Covid vaccination status.
"Armando Broja will look to join up with the squad next week."
Chelsea's development squad are also currently in the US, so Kante and Loftus-Cheek's only opportunity to build match fitness will come in the club's final scheduled friendly of pre-season against Udinese in Italy - just one week before the Premier League season gets underway.
Chelsea pre-season tour squad 2022/23
Goalkeepers
- Kepa Arrizabalaga
- Marcus Bettinelli
- Edouard Mendy
- Teddy Sharman-Lowe
Defenders
- Marcos Alonso
- Ethan Ampadu
- Cesar Azpilicueta
- Trevoh Chalobah
- Ben Chilwell
- Levi Colwill
- Reece James
- Kenedy
- Emerson Palmieri
- Malang Sarr
- Thiago Silva
Midfielders
- Ross Barkley
- Conor Gallagher
- Billy Gilmour
- Jorginho
- Mateo Kovacic
- Mason Mount
- Harvey Vale
Forwards
- Tino Anjorin
- Michy Batshuayi
- Kai Havertz
- Callum Hudson-Odoi
- Christian Pulisic
- Timo Werner
- Hakim Ziyech
Source : 90min