Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and Kurt Zouma left out of Chelsea pre-season tour squad

Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic's future at Chelsea looks increasingly bleak after both players were omitted from the 25-man squad for the pre-season tour to Asia. The pair have been heavily linked with leaving the Premier League champions this summer and are excluded from the travelling party for the games in China and Singapore.

Since firing the Blues to the title last term Costa has been heavily linked with a return to Atletico Madrid or the Chinese Super League having previously fallen out with manager Antonio Conte. Matic meanwhile has been tracked by Manchester United but his exit is no closer to completion.

Defender Kurt Zouma will also not travel ahead of his expected season-long loan move to Stoke City. The Daily Mail understand that the France international was spotted at the Potters' training ground over the weekend having made just 14 appearances for Chelsea last term following his return from a knee injury.

Meanwhile, Chelsea fans hoping for a first sighting of new signings Tiemone Bakayoko and Antonio Rudiger are initially left disappointed after neither player was included by Conte.

Frenchman Bakayoko is still recovering from having undergone knee surgery at the end of last term and is not expected to be fit until September, while Rudiger remains on holiday after playing for Germany at the Confederations Cup. He will however join up with the rest of the team for the second leg of the tour in Singapore.

Fellow new addition Willy Caballero could make his debut on the tour having been named in the group since his move from Manchester City.

Eden Hazard will continue his recovery from a broken ankle in west London and is not expected to return to training for another five weeks. There had been suggestions the Belgium international would travel to the Far East to assist his rehabilitation but the decision has been taken for him to stay at home.

The experimental squad includes 10 players who spent part or all of last season on loan including striker Loic Remy, Belgian Charly Musonda and versatile Brazilian Kenedy. Kyle Scott, who spent last season in the club's development side, is among four teenagers in the group.

Upon arriving in China, Chelsea will face domestic rivals Arsenal at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing on Saturday (22 July), before the Singapore leg of the International Champions Cup sees them take on Bayern Munich (25 July) and Inter Milan (29 July).

They are the only official pre-season matches on the club's schedule, but they are expected to play a number of behind-closed-doors games at their Cobham training ground before the season starts with the Community Shield on 6 August against FA Cup winners Arsenal.