Cole Palmer injury: 'Bizarre' reason for setback as Enzo Maresca confirms Chelsea blow

Pat Nevin believes Cole Palmer's injury was inevitable due to Chelsea's "bizarre" pre-season in the summer. The Blues' involvement in the Club World Cup meant Enzo Maresca had a 13-day period to work with his players before the 2025/26 campaign got underway.

Palmer is set to be out for another six weeks, with Maresca confirming the nightmare scenario for Chelsea during Friday morning's pre-Nottingham Forest press conference. The 23-year-old has made just four appearances for the Blues in all competitions this term due to a groin problem that has been bothering him since August.

It is not just Palmer on the injury list for Chelsea. Liam Delap could return next month from a long-term hamstring problem, Dario Essugo is due to be out until December after having surgery on a thigh problem, while Levi Colwill is set to be sidelined for the majority of the campaign after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in pre-season.

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Benoit Badiashile is a fresh injury after the 24-year-old Frenchman suffered a muscular problem during the second-half of Chelsea's 2-1 win against Liverpool before the international break. Maresca confirmed on Friday morning that Badiashile is not due to return until December.

There are also doubts over the fitness of Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Pedro Neto ahead of Saturday's trip to Nottingham, while Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo and Andrey Santos have all recovered from their respective injury problems. All of this to say, Chelsea have had their fair share of injuries in the early parts of the campaign - something Nevin believes is down to their unprecedented preparation to the season starting.

Speaking to OLBG, Nevin said: "Cole Palmer is the same as everyone, not in terms of quality, but in terms of he's one of those things called a human being. The physicality of what Chelsea players have gone through, it's going to get to them and we know it's going to get them. And it's not a maybe, it's a when, not if.

"So Cole is getting a little bit of it now. Because he played all through the summer, I thought a big hit would happen around November, December time. I thought that sort of time you'd start seeing a lot of injuries and form dipping with a number of players.

"So what it is all about is having enough of a squad and being comfortable in a position that you can rest and also you can accept, obviously suspensions but injuries as well.

"So Cole, he's one of the first ones, but have a look back at centre-back. Chelsea finished off the game against Liverpool with I think their sixth and seventh choice centre-halves.

"Chelsea's pre-season was two games in three days. It's bizarre, it's wrong, it's impossible. So it's going to hit them. And that's going to be Enzo Maresca's biggest challenge this season.

"He's got a good enough squad for the top four. There's no doubt. But how you get a good enough, fit enough squad for top four, that's what we need to find out."