Ex-Chelsea man Charly Musonda 'goes AWOL' after earning contract at new club

Charly Musonda has gone AWOL, according to the chief executive of Zulte Waregem.

The 25-year-old, who left Chelsea last month following a decade at the West London club, had received a contract offer following a trial with the Belgian top-flight side. But then he disappeared before putting pen to paper, with the club's chief executive admitting that they have no idea if the attacking midfielder will return.

"When will Charly Musonda return to training? I don't know," Eddy Cordier said. "Will he ever come back? No idea.

"I don't know whether we will pull the plug on him because he hasn't been in since he trained a couple of weeks ago and there has been no contact. It's more important that we concentrate on the group of players who are here at the club for pre-season."

Musonda made seven appearances for Chelsea's first team, scoring once and adding two assists. He had loan spells with Real Betis, Celtic and Vitesse Arnheim but struggled to overcome a posterior cruciate ligament tear sustained a few days into his time with the latter.

His departure from Stamford Bridge was all but confirmed months ago, leading to rumours of transfer interest from a host of European clubs including Jose Mourinho 's Roma. The Serie A side's head coach worked with Musonda during his second spell at Chelsea.

But none of those came to fruition and he instead spent a few days auditioning at Zulte Waregem, where his performance was sufficient enough to earn a deal.

His brothers, Lamisha and Tika, were also part of Chelsea's youth structure.