‘I was wrong’ – Enzo Maresca confirms nightmare Cole Palmer injury update

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Cole Palmer will be ruled out for at least six more weeks due to an ongoing groin problem.

The England international pulled up in the warm-up versus West Ham United in late August and subsequently missed Chelsea’s 5-1 victory over the Hammers and their 2-0 win against Fulham.

He returned to action off the bench versus Brentford on 13 September, marking the occasion with his first goal of the season, while he then played the entire 90 minutes against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

However, Palmer was withdrawn in the 21st minute of Chelsea’s next fixture, versus Manchester United, and he hasn’t been seen since.

The former Manchester City star has missed Chelsea’s last four matches across all competitions and he was initially ruled out until after the October international break.

But, Maresca has now confirmed that Palmer will not be able to feature until at least December.

Cole Palmer injury update

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s clash against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Maresca told reporters: “I was wrong [about Palmer]. Unfortunately he needs to be out for six more weeks.

“We try to protect Cole as much as we can. The most important thing is when he comes back, he is fully fit.

“The medical staff are not magicians. We hope six weeks are enough. We need to see it step by step. For sure, he’s going to be okay.

“He looks relaxed. He has tried to recover from the injury and doing all the therapy.”

Maresca added: “First of all, to replace Cole, it’s difficult. Cole is a very important player for us, one of the best in the league. The one we have, in Cole’s position, against Liverpool was Malo Gusto. The game vs Benfica was Facundo [Buonanotte]. It depends on the game plan we have. We don’t have another player like Cole. Cole is unique.”

Palmer isn’t the only Chelsea star who will be absent against Nottingham Forest either.

“Levi [Colwill] and Liam [Delap] are still out,” Maresca admitted. “Unfortunately Benoit [Badiashile] will be out until December, a muscle problem. We are going to wait for him.

“Moi [Caicedo], Enzo [Fernandez] and Pedro [Neto] did not take part in the session yesterday. We will see if they can train today. Reece [James] is okay, he is fully fit.”

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