Chelsea coach Antonio Conte is expected to begin running the rule over three Nigerian players in the shape of Ola Aina, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori on Monday, July 9.

Though the future of the Italian manager is up in the air after The Blues failed to qualify for the Champions League at the end of last season, several British newspapers including The Sun are reporting that Conte faces the bizarre situation of taking his Chelsea squad for their first full day of training on Monday – even though he could be replaced by the end of the week.

The Chelsea players not involved in World Cup duties have started reporting for pre-season training and this website can confirm that Ola Aina, Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham are among the early birds.

The three players spent the entirety of last season on loan at Hull City and Swansea City respectively and will be hoping to impress Chelsea's head coach in pre-season, whether it's Conte or Maurizio Sarri, who is being linked with a move to Stamford Bridge from Napoli.

It is thought that Ola Aina is in the plans of the Chelsea hierarchy for the forthcoming season as his name has been added to the first team squad published on the official website.

Chelsea will face Perth Glory, Internazionale, Arsenal and Olympique Lyonnais in friendly matches before their opening Premier League fixture against Huddersfield Town on August 11.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel