Edouard Mendy has joined up with the Chelsea squad overnight but will not feature in this afternoon’s Club World Cup semi-final against Al Hilal.
The goalkeeper helped Senegal win the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday night and has been back in his homeland for the celebrations. But he was due to fly out to Abu Dhabi where Chelsea are aiming to win the Club World Cup for the first time in their history.
He is not in contention for Wednesday’s semi-final against Al Hilal – but will be a consideration if the European champions reach Saturday’s final.
Chelsea first team coach Zsolt Low confirmed: “Mendy will arrive probably later today or tomorrow and we’ll see how tired he is. He has to arrive first, we have to check him and talk to him. We’ll see if it’s possible he plays, maybe.”
Kepa Arrizabalaga has been in outstanding form when called on to deputise for Mendy this season and on Saturday produced a late penalty save to secure a 2-1 win against Plymouth in the FA Cup.
Mason Mount does not start against Al Hilal after being taken off when feeling pain against Plymouth. Kai Havertz takes his place in the attack alongside Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech.
Low added: “Mason is getting better and better every day. We’ll see how he moves and feels today and take the last decision tomorrow.
“We had a hard cup game with 120 minutes and a long trip here. We have to use the first two days to recover and slowly today we are prepared for a good session and game. The four-hour time difference, players couldn’t sleep very well, they need this time to play the game.”
Low also confirmed Reece James will play no part in the tournament, despite being part of the travelling party. The wing-back suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury when coming down with Flu in recent weeks.
Chelsea XI: Kepa; Christensen, Rudiger, Silva; Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso; Ziyech, Havertz, Lukaku.
Subs: Bettinelli, Mendy; Kante, Pulisic, Werner, Chalobah, Saul, Barkley, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Kenedy, Sarr.
