Cole Palmer suffered a freak accident at home which has left him with a fractured toe – ruling him out of Chelsea‘s upcoming key games.
The midfielder has played just three Premier League games this season after being plagued with groin injuries and last featured for just 21 minutes during Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in September.
He had been recovering in recent weeks, however, and Stamford Bridge boss Enzo Maresca was hopeful that his star man would be ready for selection for what looks set to be a tough run of matches.
But after smashing his left toe against a door in his home in the middle of the night, Palmer will now be unavailable for selection for the Blues – who are set to face Burnley, Barcelona and Arsenal in the next 10 days.
‘He was very close. He was back with us almost with the groin, which is very good news, but he has this small problem,’ Maresca said on Friday.
‘He is not available for [Burnley], for sure, Barcelona, for sure, Arsenal, for sure. Unfortunately, he had an accident at home with his toe.’
Cole Palmer has suffered a freak accident at home which has left him with a fractured toe
The midfielder has not featured for Chelsea since his injury against Man United in September
The Chelsea boss said he does not know how long Palmer will be recovering for, adding: ‘The only thing we know is that he is not available for this week and next week.’
The 23-year-old had shared a positive update with fans earlier this month, posting a series of snaps of himself in the gym at Chelsea’s Cobham base on social media.
Palmer penned the caption ‘Whatever the 5th pic says’, with the photo displaying a whiteboard at Chelsea’s base featuring the message ‘No-one gives a f***, work harder’.
Daily Mail Sport’s Chelsea Confidential revealed in late October that Palmer was yet to return to training.
The fracture to his toe proves to be another setback in his long-awaited recovery and is a blow for Maresca, who has been without the man who has an impressive 45 goals and 29 assists in 101 games since moving to Stamford Bridge from Man City.
Chelsea are, however, sitting 3rd in the Premier League table and are just two points behind City in 2nd and six points behind pacesetters Arsenal.
In the absence of their talisman Palmer, summer signing Joao Pedro has proved an able deputy having scored four goals and added three assists in 14 matches.