Cole Palmer has fractured his little toe in a freak accident at home – with the Chelsea and England star stubbing his left foot on a door on Wednesday night to leave him sidelined for even longer.
Palmer was on the verge of returning from his groin injury for the Blues, who will face Burnley tomorrow followed by Barcelona in the Champions League and Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Manager Enzo Maresca broke the news at his pre-match press conference this morning, telling us on the 23-year-old Englishman: ‘He’s not available for tomorrow for sure, Barcelona for sure, Arsenal for sure.
‘Unfortunately he had an accident at home two days ago and he hit his toe. It’s nothing important, but for sure, he’s not back next week.
‘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’s very good news, and then, again, he had this small problem. Hopefully it’s nothing important.’
Cole Palmer has fractured his toe in a freak accident at home – ruling him out of key matches
Supporters had expected to be told that Palmer had returned to training.
Chelsea have coped well without their playmaker, winning eight of the 11 games they have played since he picked up his groin injury. They had been aiming to have him back and available for the visit of Barcelona in a seismic Champions League showdown this Tuesday.
However, there is now no set timeline on his new return, with Maresca only saying that he will definitely miss this week and next week.
Maresca continued: ‘We don’t know. The only thing we know is that he’s not available for this week or next week. The last time I saw him was yesterday 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.
‘The team-mates are better players with Cole playing. I feel much better when Cole is on the pitch, and we all want Cole on the pitch. At the same time, when Cole is not on the pitch, we need to find a solution. The team is doing fantastic.’
