Drogba misses Blues tour: Striker stays at home becase of injury

Chelsea have left for their pre-season tour of Asia without striker Didier Drogba.

The 30-year-old has been linked with a transfer away from Stamford Bridge this summer although the Blues claim his absence from the trip is due to the need to recover from a knee injury.

Drogba's omission seems certain to raise further questions about his future, however, with a virtually full-strength squad travelling to play games in China and Malaysia before returning to Europe for the Railways Cup in Moscow.

Another player rumoured to be on his way from Chelsea, Inter Milan target Frank Lampard, is included in the party.

New boys Deco and Jose Bosingwa are in Luiz Felipe Scolari's squad, while Michael Ballack will link up with them in China after finishing a post-Euro 2008 holiday.

Scolari will take charge of his first match as Chelsea manager on Wednesday against Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals and the Brazilian says he is still trying to pass his ideas on to his new players.

"The players are not ready yet totally, but we are starting to build a new team and a new philosophy," Scolari told the club's official website.

"This is just the beginning, and I expect after these five games that I will have a general idea about all the players and a system."


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