Chelsea have announced the 25 man squad that will compete in the 2013 Guiness International Champions Cup in the United States.
The Blues will be boosted by the return of six players who missed the club’s three match tour of Asia trip due to their Confederations Cup commitments this summer: Brazil’s David Luiz and Oscar, Spain’s Fernando Torres, Juan Mata and Cesar Azpilicueta and Nigeria’s John Obi Mikel.
The inclusion of Luiz, Mata and Torres will be a relief for Chelsea fans as the three have been the subject of transfer speculation throughout the summer.
Luiz and Mata had been linked with Manchester United in a swap deal for Wayne Rooney, while Torres has been pegged to go anywhere from Napoli to Atletico Madrid to Valencia.
Despite the rumors, manager Jose Mourinho has stated his intent of keeping all three players in the squad.
The Blues landed in Washington DC today to prepare for the first of three matches in this year’s ICC. That match, set to be played gainst Mourinho’s former club Inter Milan, will kick-off in Indianapolis on Thursday. The Blues then face either AC Milan or Valencia on Sunday, August 4th in New York before traveling to Miami for a final fixture on August 7th or 8th.
Chelsea will then conclude their U.S. tour on August 10th in a friendly match-up against AS Roma in Washington DC.
Here is the complete 25 man roster for Chelsea’s trip to the U.S.:
Petr Cech, Mark Schwarzer, Henrique Hilario, Jamal Blackman; Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Gary Cahill, John Terry, Cesar Azpilicueta, Ryan Bertrand, David Luiz; John Mikel Obi, Michael Essien, Oscar, Ramires, Frank Lampard, Marco van Ginkel, Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, Victor Moses, Andre Schurrle, Kevin De Bruyne; Fernando Torres, Romelu Lukaku, Demba Ba.