Laudrup has revealed his determination to leave London and return home to Denmark due to homesickness after 10 years spent playing abroad at Bayern Munich, Fiorentina, AC Milan and Glasgow Rangers.

With FC Copenhagen set to sign him, it could be argued that he and Chelsea, who drew the home leg of the second round tie 1-1 with a late Marcel Desailly equaliser, are in a bizarre no-win situation should he play.

If Laudrup scores and holders Chelsea win, then his future club will have been knocked out. If he performs badly and the Blues lose, huge question marks will be raised about his selection.

But although Gianluca Vialli was giving little away about his line-up, the indications seem to be that Laudrup will be involved at least at some stage of the game as the player-boss has no worries about his striker's professionalism.

With talks between the two clubs not set to take place until next week despite Copenhagen's initial hope that a deal could be concluded on Friday, Vialli is also confident that that Laudrup will still be with Chelsea for "a while yet".

But Vialli, who may need Laudrup's creativity as his side have to score to progress in what he believes is their most important game of their season so far, will make sure that the striker is in the right frame of mind before picking him.