Chelsea left N’Golo Kante out of their squad to take on Manchester City after the midfielder fainted at the club’s training ground on Friday, sources have confirmed.
He was a shock omission from Antonio Conte’s matchday squad at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday despite having travelled to Manchester, with Chelsea attributing his absence to illness.
Reports say Kante fainted in the dressing room at Cobham following Chelsea’s training session on Friday, prompting a shocked reaction from his teammates and a swift response from the club’s medical staff.
Kante was sent to a specialist to undergo a series of tests after regaining consciousness amid fears that he had suffered a heart problem, and while no underlying issues were discovered, Chelsea decided against including the midfielder in their plans to face City when he disclosed that he was still feeling unwell on Sunday morning.
There is a suggestion that the episode may have been the result of Kante returning to a warm dressing room after training in the extreme cold temperatures caused by the Siberian blast that swept across the UK last week, the sources said, though no definitive cause was found.
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