Andreas Christensen asked not to play FA Cup final but was not injured ahead of Chelsea departure this summer

Andreas Christensen was not injured ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup final defeat to Liverpool and was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad at his own request.

The centre-back had been at the team hotel the night before the trip to Wembley, but left – much to the confusion – of his team-mates on Saturday morning. i understands he was suffering from sickness earlier in the week, but he had still been expected to be part of the travelling squad.

Christensen’s absence left Malang Sarr and Cesar Azpilicueta as the Blues’ only defensive options on the bench, which could have been significant with Thiago Silva suffering a knock just 10 minutes into the game.

Silva collided with Trevoh Chalobah as the 22-year-old cleared the ball after Edouard Mendy had parried away an effort from Luis Diaz, but the Brazilian international was able to continue despite requiring ice treatment on his knee.

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Tuchel did not mention Christensen during his pre and post-match media duties.

With the 26-year-old set to leave the club for Barcelona this summer when his contract expires, it is possible he has already played his last game for the club. Chelsea have just two fixtures left to complete this season, against Leicester City and Watford.

They will also lose Antonio Rudiger, who delivered a stellar performance against Liverpool on Saturday, as the defender prepares to complete a move to Real Madrid.

The sanctions which have been in place since Roman Abramovich’s assets were frozen have made it difficult to tie down players whose deals were up in the summer, though it is understood both Christensen and Rudiger may have left anyway.

Christensen had held contract talks with the club and they were confident the Danish international would stay, but those discussions ultimately proved unsuccessful, particularly after he hired new representatives.

Ahead of Chelsea’s final run-in, Tuchel has few other worries with Chelsea having all but wrapped up third place. Kai Havertz missed the FA Cup final with a hamstring injury and Timo Werner was an unused substitute having also tweaked his hamstring in the warm-up. It is unclear whether they will be fit to face Leicester on Thursday, but Mateo Kovacic was a surprise inclusion at Wembley after a dangerous red-card challenge from Dan James in Chelsea’s win over Leeds.

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