Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca revealed that Cole Palmer will be fit and available for the visit of Arsenal in Sunday’s almighty clash between the two teams at the summit of the Premier League table.
It was before a league meeting with Arsenal back in April 2024 that Mauricio Pochettino coined the term “Cole Palmer FC.” As the former Chelsea boss prepared for a trip to north London without the team’s talisman, he called upon the rest of the squad to “show this is Chelsea Football Club, not Cole Palmer Football Club.” The Blues were beaten 5–0.
That Palmer-dependency was still very much evident during the first half of Maresca reign before the Italian boss began to gradually carve out alternative routes to goal during his playmaker’s long injury absences. Nevertheless, it comes as a boost to have Palmer back after enduring a campaign pockmarked by fitness woes.
The 23-year-old spent the first four months of the new season battling a groin problem only to then fracture his toe at home in comical circumstances.
A yawning 71 days on from his last appearance, Maresca revealed that Palmer could even start against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
“Everyone is happy,” the Chelsea boss beamed, “the teammates are happy, we are all happy and the most important thing is Cole is happy because a footballer wants to play games and make the sessions every day.”
