Chelsea fans were left worried when Cole Palmer had to be taken off during warm-up before the match against West Ham United. He had originally been in the starting XI but was replaced by Estevao. The Englishman was not available for the following game either, which turned out to be a 2-0 win against Fulham.
Chelsea have won both games without Palmer for sure but there is no doubt that he is part of the club's best starting XI. So, they will be hoping to have him back available as soon as possible.
Some recent reports have suggested that Palmer could be out for four to six weeks, which could be a problem for the Blues. The extent of it has never really been confirmed. But if the player's recent social media activity is anything to go by then he might be back on the pitch sooner than that.
Palmer posted a number of pictures on Instagram recently. And it was captioned 'Soon back', which was enough to excite the Chelsea fans about the Club World Cup winner's return to action.
Cole Palmer drops exciting injury return update for Chelsea
In the absence of Palmer, we have seen Joao Pedro play a similar role and he has done brilliantly, scoring and assisting twice each in the past two games. There is something to be said about the recent addition of Facundo Buonanotte as well, who has been brought in on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion.
The expectation is that he will be the cover option for Palmer. With Liam Delap also getting injured, there is very little chance that we will see too much of Pedro in a number 10 role. There are no other starting-level strikers at the club anymore.
Palmer's return would come as a major boost for Chelsea. Hopefully, it comes as soon as possibly, potentially even right after the international break.