Cole Palmer has been dealing with fitness issues since the start of this season. He had to be taken out of the starting XI in Chelsea's game against West Ham United after seemingly picking up an issue in pre-match warm-ups. He missed the next couple of games before returning to the pitch. He has never looked 100% though. That was evident from him looking uncomfortable towards the end of the Bayern Munich game as well.
Despite that, he did end up starting against Manchester United. But Palmer had to be taken off inside the first 20 minutes.
Of course, the last thing Chelsea can afford is for Palmer to pick up a long-term issue. This is something that has clearly been bothering him for a while now. In fact, longer than most of us had realised.
As reported by Simon Phillips, Palmer has been injured since before the Club World Cup. They’ve been giving him pain injections to play. Nothing bad showed up on the scans, but he’s had continuous discomfort in his groin, and it’s not gone away.
Very worrying Cole Palmer injury update after Chelsea vs Man Utd
So, while the nature of Palmer's injury is still not completely clear, it is evident that he is no 100% nd has not been for a while. In such a situation, it is important for him to get the proper rest.
There is no doubt that he is absolutely vital to this team. That being said, Chelsea need to take care of the Englishman's long-term fitness, even if it costs them in the short-term.
Hopefully, he is not rushed back into action this time around. Clearly, he should not have played three times within the space of a week in his situation. Let's make sure that the next time we see him back on the pitch, he is back to full fitness and not just trying to push through the pain to help the team.