Cole Palmer will miss Chelsea’s game against Fulham through injury having been left out of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the upcoming internationals.
The Chelsea No 10 “felt something” in the warm-up against West Ham, forcing Enzo Maresca into a late reshuffle, as Willian Estevao started in the 5-1 victory for the Blues at the London Stadium.
Tuchel has omitted Palmer for the upcoming World Cup 2026 qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia.
The 23-year-old was not seen outside in training on Tuesday as the media gathered at the club’s Cobham training base, and Maresca confirmed on Friday that he would not play this weekend.
“Cole is out, Benoit (Badisahile) is out, Romeo (Lavia) is out and the rest are OK,” the manager said.
Chelsea take on London rivals Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday and will line up without Palmer once again. Estevao could feature again from the start, while Jamie Gittens and Liam Delap are also pushing for a start alongside Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto.
Maresca also confirmed that Chelsea are set to seal the £40m transfer of Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho, who is in London for a medical. “I know that he is around here but I don’t know exactly where he is,” he said, adding: “It’s a player who is clearly a winger, I see him as a winger.”
The Chelsea manager also had warm words for Christopher Nkunku, the French striker who move to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2023 for £52m, but who is set to leave on loan to AC Milan after failing to hold down a place in the first XI.
“Christo is a fantastic professional, he trained very well, the only problem with Christo was that in his position was a player like Cole. They can expect fantastic things (at Milan) because is a fantastic professional and player.”
