Chelsea have had to scrap a planned tribute to Cole Palmer on his return to Champions League action after he fractured his little toe by stubbing it on a door at home – the night before he was due to return to training following a groin injury which had sidelined him for two months.
Up there with football’s freak accidents, Palmer will now cruelly miss several matches he might otherwise have featured in, including Saturday’s trip to Burnley followed by Barcelona in the Champions League and the visit of Premier League leaders Arsenal next weekend.
Palmer was supposed to join team training on Thursday morning but had his mishap on Wednesday night, with Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca revealing how he received a phone call from the club doctor at 11pm to tell him what had happened.
Maresca also likened the loss of Palmer as the same as Manchester City losing Erling Haaland or Liverpool losing Mohamed Salah, as he said: ‘When you receive a message from the doctor at 11 o’clock at night, it’s always bad news.
‘I saw my mobile, it was the doctor, and he just said, “Cole has had an accident at home”. I was next to my wife. I said, “Oh my god!” My wife was saying, “What’s happened? What’s happened?” It’s like this. I’m not joking, I’m serious.
‘The plan for Cole was to take part in a session on Thursday so he was ready. Unfortunately the night before happened the accident. It can happen.
‘I wake up many times during the night to go to the toilet. I hit my head, my legs, my everything, so it can happen. He was very close. He was back with us almost with the groin and it was very good news, and then, again, he had this small problem.’
This news was a blow to Chelsea supporters who had expected to be told that Palmer had returned to training and was in contention to take on Barcelona this Tuesday. Indeed, Daily Mail Sport has learned plans were formed for a large ‘Cold Palmer’ ice sculpture to be set up outside of Stamford Bridge for that Champions League clash with his Topps football card inside.
The Blues have coped well without their playmaker at least, winning eight of the 11 games they have played since he picked up his groin injury. ‘I’m very proud,’ Maresca said when that statistic was put to him. ‘Because for us, Cole is like Haaland for City, like Salah for Liverpool, and I guess if Haaland doesn’t play for City or Salah for Liverpool, they are not the same team.
‘I’m very proud of the players because, in a difficult moment without Cole, they showed that they are good players and they all want the best for this club.’
Maresca conceded he does not know how long Palmer will now be sidelined as he added: ‘The only thing we know is that he’s not available for this week or next week.
‘The last time I saw him was Thursday morning, and he was without socks, without flip-flops, he was without nothing, I don’t know how to explain it. The problem is that it’s a small toe, so the contact with the boots can be painful.’
In better news, Benoit Badiashile is available to face Burnley after being absent since early October. Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez are both fit to feature also, though Maresca said he still needed to speak with Moises Caicedo after he played back-to-back full 90s for Ecuador.
Maresca is not best pleased that Chelsea have been selected for a 12.30pm kick-off for the second successive time after an international break as he said: ‘We accept it once, but not two times in a row. The schedule is the schedule and we will try to do our best.’
