The bad news just keeps on coming for Chelsea. Just when it had looked like the Blues were set to have Cole Palmer back, potentially as early as the Barcelona game if things went well, a twist in the tale has emerged. The Englishman, who has been troubled with a groin issue going back to the Club World Cup, has now picked up another injury and will miss at least a couple more weeks of action as a result.
When things are not going your way, nothing just seems to fall into place. And it looks like Chelsea are caught up in that kind of situation at the moment.
There were doubts about his availability for the upcoming games against Barcelona and Arsenal already. And now, it has been confirmed that he won't play in them. The reason is not what most would have predicted though.
So, what is this new injury for Palmer. Well, he has ended up fracturing his toe. As reported by The Standard, Enzo Maresca said:
"He is probably not available for tomorrow, for sure.
“Barcelona for sure. Arsenal for sure. Unfortunately, he had an accident at home two days ago.
“He hit his toe. But it’s nothing important. But for sure he’s not back in the next week.
“It’s fractured. The only thing we know is he’s not available for this week and next week."
Chelsea boss confirms Cole Palmer has suffered new injury
This is the last thing that Chelsea fans wanted to hear coming out of the international break. But at least all the confusion has been cleared around Palmer's situation.
There was a lot of guesswork going on about whether he would play or not in the vital matches against Barcelona and Arsenal. Now, it is very clear that he won't and Chelsea will have to adjust accordingly.
Of course, it is never ideal not to have your best player available on these big occasions. In the past, we have seen how Chelsea have done against teams like Arsenal when Palmer is not available. Nobody wants to see a repeat of such performances. Hopefully, Maresca will find a way to get positive results even without his talisman.