Chelsea to keep Luiz and Conte apart at Cobham training ground

Chelsea are keen to stop Antonio Conte and David Luiz meeting again as they prepare for pre-season training.

Antonio Conte is still likely to leave the London club, but no severance package has been agreed, so he is due back for pre-season training.

Also due to appear are Chelsea’s players who were not on World Cup duty over the last month, and those still at the tournament. That means that Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois are absent, and Gary Cahill is still with England.

However, Luiz missed the World Cup after an indifferent season with Chelsea, and he featured just 10 times in the Premier League last season as his relationship with Conte first becoming strained, before completely breaking down.

As a result, Chelsea hope to avoid any awkward confrontations between the pair. To that end, they hope to complete the signing of Maurizio Sarri as boss from Napoli. Sarri remains an employee of Napoli despite the club appointing Carlo Ancelotti as their next boss, with Napoli hoping to agree a compensation fee with Chelsea before releasing him.

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He has been at the club for two years, winning the title in his first season before things fell apart last term in the Premier League with the club missing out on qualification for the Champions League.

But the Italian did win the FA Cup, beating Manchester United and Jose Mourinho, Conte’s fierce rival.