Chelsea Suffer Injury Blows As Two Summer Signings Omitted From Pre-season Squad | OneFootball

Xabi Alonso has named his 27-man Chelsea squad that will travel to Australia for their 2026 pre-season tour. Video Credit: Absolute Chelsea

Chelsea have left out both Emmanuel Emegha and Geovany Quenda from their travelling squad for the pre-season tour due to injuries.

Xabi Alonso named 27 players in the squad that will travel for the club’s pre-season tour in Australia and Asia.

Several academy stars made the list, such as Landon Emenalo and Reggie Walsh, so it came as a surprise when neither Emegha nor Quenda was among the 27 players.

Reports have now claimed that the two players, who joined Chelsea this summer, are nursing some injuries.

Emegha is said to have sustained a hamstring injury during Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Bromley in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Thursday.

The former Strasbourg striker is expected to miss the two pre-season games in Australia, against Western Sydney Wanderers on July 28 and Tottenham Hotspur on August 1.

Quenda, on the other hand, is reported to have picked up an unspecified minor injury.

Blows for two Chelsea summer signings

These injuries came at such an unfortunate moment for the pair, who must be eager to prove themselves to new manager Alonso to kick-start their Chelsea careers.

That said, both of them struggled with injury issues last season, which might have played a part in Chelsea’s decision to opt for a cautious approach.

Emegha missed over 30 games for Strasbourg last season due to several injuries, including a muscle fiber tear in his thigh.

While Quenda spent over four months recovering from a fractured metatarsal, most of which he spent at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground before returning to Sporting towards the end of the season.

As it stands, there is no guarantee that both players would even be part of Alonso’s first-team squad this season, given the competition.

Emegha is currently contending for striker spots with the likes of Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Nicolas Jackson, and Marc Guiu.

Quenda is more versatile, but as a player who primarily plays on the right wing, he would have to compete with Estevao, Pedro Neto, and even Cole Palmer.

Both Emegha and Quenda could still rejoin the rest of the squad for the pre-season tour that will conclude in a friendly against Johor Darul Ta’zim in Malaysia on Sunday. August 9.

Chelsea will play a total of five friendlies during the tour, including two matches against Italian sides Juventus and AC Milan.

The others, who are also missing from the pre-season squad after representing their countries in the 2026 World Cup, such as Reece James, Enzo Fernandez, and Morgan Rogers, are also expected to join in during the tour.