Wesley Fofana ruled out of Chelsea's pre-season tour due to a knee injury

Chelsea have confirmed defender Wesley Fofana will miss the club's pre-season tour of the United States due to a knee injury, as manager Mauricio Pochettino named a 29-man travelling squad.

The 22-year-old defender suffered an injury disrupted first season at Stamford Bridge after completing a £70million move from Leicester last summer.

Fofana missed 15 Premier League matches due to a knee injury, before establishing himself in the side in the latter stages of the campaign.

The Blues have confirmed Fofana will not travel to the United States due to a knee problem, which is currently being assessed.

Fellow defender Reece James also did not travel with the squad as a precaution after feeling unwell on Monday morning.

James is expected to join up Pochettino’s squad when he is feeling better.

Marcus Bettinelli, Benoit Badiashile and Armando Broja will also remain at Cobham as they continue their respective recoveries from injury.

New signings Christopher Nkunku, Andrey Santos, Nicolas Jackson and Malo Gusto have been included by Pochettino for the tour.

The Blues appear light on central midfielders with Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher the only senior players named in the squad.

Chelsea have been pursuing Brighton's Ecuadorian midfielder Moises Caicedo, with the Seagulls demanding £100million for the star.

Santos and fellow youngsters Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei and Lewis Hall have been included as midfield options.

Kepa Arrizabalaga, Gabriel Slonina, Lucas Bergstrom, Eddie Beach and Jamie Cumming are among five goalkeepers travelling to the United States.

New signing Gusto joins fellow defenders Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Marc Cucurella, Bashir Humphreys, Levi Colwill, Ian Maatsen and Alfie Gilchrist in the travelling party.

Pochettino reportedly held face-to-face talks with Colwill last week to outline his plans for the highly-rated defender.

A number of clubs are monitoring developments with Colwill including Brighton, where he spent last season on loan and who have already seen a £30m summer offer to sign the 20 year-old permanently rejected.

Colwill and fellow Chelsea teammate and Noni Madueke have joined up with the squad after helping England win the Under-21 Euros earlier this month.

Madueke is among Pochettino’s attacking options on the tour, which also include Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling, Angelo Gabriel, Diego Moreira, Jackson, Nkunku, Mason Burstow and Dujuan Richards.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is among the absentees as Chelsea pushed back his return date amid interest in the striker from Marseille.

Romelu Lukaku is also expected back on Tuesday having similarly had his planned return delayed from last week, as is Hakim Ziyech.

Chelsea have been in talks with Juventus and Al-Hilal over a deal for Lukaku, though his previous preference, Inter Milan, have ditched their pursuit of the Belgian striker.

The Blues will play five games as part of their US tour, beginning with a match against League Two side Wrexham in North Carolina on Wednesday.

Chelsea will face Brighton, Newcastle and Fulham as part of the Premier League's 'Summer Series'.

Their final match of the tour will come against Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund on August 2.