Enzo Maresca has shown that Cole Palmer went down the tunnel directly after he was replaced in the 1-0 win against Leicester City because he had played through illnesses.
The blues talisman sounds rare drying periods in front of the goal and has not taken a gold chance of ending his slump when he scored a penalty in the first half of the game on Sunday. While his efforts were solid, Mads Hermansen saved it when Palmer missed the first punishment of his senior career.
Palmer was then replaced in the second half – a rare sight in Stamford Bridge – and Maresca revealed after the game that the English international was hardly fit enough to play at all.
“It’s very simple: Cole didn’t train yesterday and he didn’t feel good during the night,” said Maresca after the game. “The reason why he didn’t train yesterday is that he didn’t feel good.
“He woke up this morning and asked me: ‘I want to be on the pitch because I would like to help this team, this club, to play Champions League.
“So he was completely outside in the last two days. Fever, I can say something in English? Diarrhea. In the last 48 hours he did not train with the fever and this bad feeling. This morning he asked to play the game, and this shows how these players want to bring the club where he belongs.”
Maresca confirmed that Palmer’s illness behind his substitution and his decision to go down the tunnel was stood before the midfielder finally returned to the bench.
Palmer now closes two months without a destination, while his last support in December was all the way back. He will undoubtedly be interested in ending both stripes in the next two Premier League games in Chelsea, and the London rival Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur both on the calendar.