Bombed squad: Chelsea, Arsenal, City record signings feature in XI left out of pre-season tours | OneFootball

Romelu Lukaku, Nicolas Pepe and Riyad Mahrez all stayed at home when their clubs went on tour.

Once, Romelu Lukaku, Nicolas Pepe and Riyad Mahrez were record signings for Chelsea, Arsenal and City. Now they are not even in the squads for pre-season tours.

These lads, all left at home while their team-mates travel the world, are playing a back three. A makeshift one at that…

GK: Hugo Lloris The Tottenham captain chose not to join his team-mates on the plane to Australia because “he’s hoping for a move somewhere else,” according to Ange Postecoglu. That won’t be Fiorentina, though the World Cup winner is apparently keen to move back to France to join PSG.

CB: Eric Bailly In case Bailly lacked the self-awareness to recognise that Erik ten Hag doesn’t want him, the Ivory Coast centre-back was left out of Manchester United’s travelling party when they took off for the United States. While Bailly kicks his heels around Carrington, trying not to pull a hamstring in the process, United will be desperately looking for a buyer. Good luck with that.

CB: Fabinho Jordan Henderson headed to Germany with the Liverpool squad before his move to Al-Ettifaq was agreed, but Fabinho’s switch to Al Ittihad was presumably further down the line since the Brazilian stayed on Merseyside. Presumably wrapped up in cotton wool by the Reds as they wait to bank £40million.

CB: Alex Telles Similarly to Bailly, Telles has been bombed by Ten Hag but unlike his team-mate, the Brazilian seems to have found a new club, one that will pay him very handsomely, even if United are getting a pittance from Al-Nassr.

LWB: Ryan Fraser Newcastle manager Eddie Howe took 34 players to the United States for Newcastle’s pre-season tour but Fraser was left behind with Isaac Hayden and Jeff Hendrick. Hardly surprising after the winger fell out with Howe in March, with his last appearance for the Magpies coming last October.

RWB: Callum Hudson-Odoi It feels like a very long time ago when Chelsea were celebrating tying Hudson-Odoi down to a new contract. Now, he can’t make the Blues’ squad for the tour in United States, left at home amid interest from Fulham.

CM: Fred The Manchester United midfielder stayed behind while United flew off after their pre-season win over Lyon with Fred returning to Manchester to deal with ‘a personal issue’, which is presumably not related to transfer interest since the Red Devils say they expect him to meet up with his team-mates later in the tour.

CM: Albert Sambi Lokonga While Arsenal parade their new central midfielder and record signing around United States, Lokonga remains in London, kicking around London Colney with Cedric Soares and this fella…

RF: Nicolas Pepe Arsenal’s last record signing was kept back when Mikel Arteta named his travelling squad, presumably in the hope that the winger might get fixed up with another club before the Gunners return. In the absence of interest from Saudi, there appears little prospect of a move, unless Pepe is released from his contract a year before it is due to expire. Seventy-two million quid.

LF: Riyad Mahrez City only returned to pre-season training on Monday before flying off to Tokyo, with Mahrez’s name not on the flight manifest. He’ll be boarding another one, bound for Saudi Arabia, after the Treble winners agreed to sell the winger for £30million.

CF: Romelu Lukaku Chelsea delayed Lukaku’s return to training for a few days in the hope they might sell in the meantime. Instead, the centre-forward succeeded in p*ssing off Inter Milan, while Juventus fans made it clear they don’t want him. Lukaku returned to Cobham after the rest of the Chelsea players – the ones Mauricio Pochettino wants to keep – departed for the United States.