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Didier Drogba's departure from Chelsea is far from certain despite the striker's exclusion from the squad of players who departed yesterday for the club's two-week pre-season tour of Asia.

The absence of Drogba inevitably sparked fresh speculation that the 30-year-old would leave Stamford Bridge this summer, especially after his agent said last week that his future would be resolved, one way or the other, over the next ten days. However, Chelsea insist that Drogba has only been left behind because he requires further treatment on his troublesome knee and The Times reports that new manager Luiz Felipe Scolari 'has told the board that he wants to keep Drogba, despite his erratic performances last season, although the situation is complicated because the player is seeking an extended contract.'

Yet in two important respects, Drogba's retention has become a straightforward affair - the first being that none of his supposed suitors in Europe have shown a willingness to match Chelsea's £20m valuation due to concerns over his age and longstanding knee injury and the second that Chelsea have failed to find an adequate replacement. His absence for the Asia tour has only highlighted the shortage of strikers in the Chelsea squad, with both Andriy Shevchenko and Claudio Pizarro expected to be sold this summer and Salomon Kalou likely to be included in the Ivory Coast's Olympics squad.

Scolari has vowed to cut his bloated squad of at least five players before the season starts and that process is set to gather momentum over the next week or so. While Pizarro is poised to return to the Bundesliga, Claude Makelele is close to finalising a move to Paris Gt Germain while Manchester City are thought to be willing to spend £5m on Tal Ben-Haim.