Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has revealed that Cole Palmer will not be able to play for six weeks after he had an aggravated groin injury that happened just before the Premier League match against Nottingham Forest took place on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Palmer got ill in August but he came back really well scoring against Brentford and Bayern Munich. The England international got hurt again in the 2-1 loss to Manchester United on September 20. “Unfortunately, the time frame is six weeks,” Maresca said. “It is also very important that he returns with full fitness.”
The disappearance of the England international is a great disadvantage for the team of the Blues who are seventh in the league with 11 points and are sitting five points behind leaders Arsenal. Palmer is going to be absent for key matches such as Chelsea’s Champions League fixture against Ajax and a league game against Sunderland.
Maresca is additionally having a defensive emergency as Benoît Badiashile has been ruled out till December and Levi Colwill is recovering from an ACL injury. Between that and fitness issues of Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, and Pedro Neto, matters are not looking good.
Chelsea’s difficulties will be exacerbated by the fact that Maresca has been handed a touchline ban as a result of his excessively enthusiastic celebrations against Liverpool. He won’t be able to cheer Chelsea by the touchline but he will be in the stands as they try to get an important away victory and keep up with the top four teams.
