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took a step in direction of a top-eight league section end and a spot within the Spherical of 16 on Wednesday with a 1-0 win over event debutants Pafos.
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Liam Rosenior’s aspect had been pressured to bide their time, ready till the 78th minute for Moises Caicedo to attain the one objective of the sport.
Though Chelsea’s squad is stacked with youthful attacking expertise, there’s a notable dip in firepower when Cole Palmer shouldn’t be round or is not on prime type.
This has been an issue incessantly this season, with Palmer usually showing a shadow of the participant whose good first-half brace helped to down Paris Saint-Germain within the last in July.
Right here, we have a look at what is going on on for Palmer and what it’d imply for Chelsea’s battle throughout a number of fronts through the second half of this season.
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Is Cole Palmer injured?
Rosenior defined Palmer missed out on the Pafos recreation as a result of he felt some tightness in his thigh. Regardless of hopes he would return for the Premier League match towards on January 25, he was not within the matchday squad.
This newest lay-off for the 23-year-old comes after he accomplished 90 minutes and scored a game-sealing penalty within the 2-0 win over final weekend. Rosenior embraced an exhausted Palmer on the finish of the sport and defined {that a} lack of time on the coaching subject meant his attacking playmaker had gone above and past.
“When you watch the final quarter-hour of the sport and also you watch the vitality he places into his press, his operating for the staff, I assumed he was excellent,” the just lately put in Chelsea head coach mentioned. “It is inconceivable for any participant or any staff to be magnificent with the ball in each recreation, however you may nonetheless discover a method to win.
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“The opposite factor I’d say about Cole, and Reece James as properly, they haven’t skilled. I could not play them towards [Chelsea’s 3-2 home defeat in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal].
“I’m so pleased with them as a result of they put themselves up and so they ran themselves into the bottom. They’ve had no coaching time with the knocks they picked up, which reveals me a implausible angle, and the extra video games and the extra coaching periods they get now, the higher they may carry out.”
Cole Palmer’s diminished Chelsea enjoying time defined
A key flashpoint as was the Italian tactician butting heads with the membership’s medical division over managing the enjoying load of first-team stars.
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Chelsea have needed to be notably cautious with Palmer this season on account of the groin harm that was the principle cause for him being sidelined from September to December.
Earlier than that prolonged lay-off, Palmer additionally missed Chelsea’s second and third Premier League video games of the season versus West Ham and resulting from groin soreness. He made a goal-scoring return from the bench in a 2-2 draw with Brentford earlier than being substituted when the issue flared up extra severely throughout a chaotic September defeat at .
Cole Palmer and Enzo Maresca
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Palmer’s return from his groin harm was briefly put again a little bit additional when he suffered a damaged toe in an accident at house. That meant he might play no half within the 3-0 house win over within the Champions League. Since his goalscoring contribution in a 3-1 defeat at Bayern Munich on the opening matchday, Palmer has not featured in Europe’s prime competitors.
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His workload continues to be rigorously managed. The Brentford house recreation was his thirteenth look of 2025/26 and solely the fourth time he had accomplished 90 minutes. As of January 22, he has 5 objectives, with two of these from the penalty spot.
A thigh criticism additionally stored Palmer out of Rosenior’s first recreation on the helm — a 5-1 win at Charlton Athletic within the FA Cup. When the Chelsea boss just lately mentioned, “It might be loopy for me to danger any participant on this section of the season”, it was broadly interpreted as a reference to Palmer.
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How a lot did Chelsea pay for Cole Palmer?
Chelsea signed Palmer from on September 1, 2023, for an preliminary £40 million ($50.6 million), with the deal rising to £42.5m ($53.9m)with performance-related add-ons.
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Palmer got here by the youth ranks at Metropolis and scored six objectives in 41 appearances, with two of these coming within the month previous to his departure within the Neighborhood Defend versus Arsenal and towards Sevilla within the UEFA Tremendous Cup.
Nevertheless, simply three of his 13 begins for Pep Guardiola’s aspect got here within the Premier League.
Cole Palmer
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Does Cole Palmer have a launch clause?
Palmer signed an prolonged contract at Chelsea in August 2024, committing himself to the Stamford Bridge membership till June 2033. Regardless of hypothesis on the contrary, there isn’t a identified launch clause inside these phrases.
In February 2025, journalist said that Palmer nor some other Chelsea participant has a contract clause that will enable them to depart for a set price within the occasion of failing to qualify for the Champions League.
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Rumours that Palmer could be unsettled had been compounded by a January 2026 report from , which claimed the participant didn’t get pleasure from London life and missed his pals again in Manchester.
In January 2024, Palmer instructed that he by no means wished to depart Metropolis and Maresca was touted as a doable successor to Guardiola through the last weeks of his Chelsea reign. Equally, such discuss would possibly pique the curiosity of Manchester United, who Palmer supported as a boy.