Chelsea duo Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic have both been given permission to miss the club’s pre-season tour, according to a Sky Sports journalist.
Kaveh Solhekol, a reporter for Sky Sports news, has revealed that the Stamford Bridge pair will not attend the club’s pre-season tour to the Far East.
The journalist reports that Costa and Matic, both 28, will not be leaving on Monday to go to China and Singapore with the rest of the squad.
Solhekol shared the news on his official Twitter account on Friday.
Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic given permission to miss Chelsea tour to Far East. Squad leaving on Monday for China and Singapore
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) July 14, 2017
The decision to allow both players to miss the tour to the Far East could be an indication that the two players are set to leave Stamford Bridge this summer.
Both Matic and Costa have been linked with a departure from the club over recent weeks.
The Telegraph recently reported that Nemanja Matic trained alone with a personal fitness coach rather than with the rest of the squad when he returned to the club’s training complex, which was interpreted by team mates as a sign that he was on the verge of leaving the club.
Matic has been linked with a number of other clubs, including Manchester United, Arsenal, Inter Milan and Juventus.
His fellow team mate Diego Costa has been at the heart of Chelsea departure rumours, after the centre-forward had a public spat with boss Antonio Conte about being no longer needed in the Blues’ squad.
While the two players could be set to leave this summer, Conte has pressed on with strengthening his squad ahead of the 2017/18 season.
So far, the Chelsea manager has recruited free transfer Willy Caballero from Manchester City, Antonio Rudiger, and looks close to finalising a deal with Monaco midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko.