Chelsea Prospect Sent Home After Insulting China

Brazilian winger Kenedy has been a promising young player in Chelsea’s system for a few years now, but after a disappointing, limited 2016-17 campaign, he would have been hoping to make an impact during the club’s preseason tour of Asia.

Unfortunately for Kenedy, the 21-year-old made a pretty terrible impression in China, as some offensive Instagram posts have caused enough controversy that he was sent home by Chelsea management with one game left on the tour.

The posts were in Portuguese, but according to Shanghai Daily, they roughly translate to “Fuck China,” and—over a picture of a sleeping security guard—“Wake up China. Idiot.” As you can see below, they were followed by an apology in English and a promise of a “big hug.”

The fact that a 21-year-old posted some regrettable things on social media isn’t exactly news, but it’s especially bad, or at least annoying for Chelsea given the intentions of this tour. They’re playing in Asia this preseason in an attempt to attract new fans, but Kenedy’s posts got him booed in Bejing on Saturday during Chelsea’s match against Arsenal. The club issued an apology the following day, but soon after decided to simply send Kenedy home.

Chelsea’s tour of Asia extends through the weekend, as they play Inter Milan in Singapore on Saturday. The reigning champions will be back in England the following weekend, with the Community Shield match versus Arsenal kicking off the new Premier League season.