Cole Palmer has already begun light work on the grass despite breaking a small toe less than a week ago. The 23-year-old is training in a specially modified boot after stubbing the toe on a door at home.
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca said he would be surprised if Palmer faces Arsenal on Sunday, but he did not fully close the door on the idea. For now, Palmer is expected to miss Wednesday’s Champions League game against Barcelona.
Palmer’s boot is helping him take part in basic drills and touch the ball, with the plan to rejoin full team sessions when staff clear him. Maresca noted how Palmer is progressing and spoke with him after a recent training session. He said: ‘He’s already on the pitch, he’s already touching the ball, so I think it’s good. We are here for tomorrow’s game, that is the Champions League game, and then after that tomorrow, we start to think about Arsenal.
‘The last time I spoke to Cole was yesterday, just after the session, to ask how he was feeling. Again, it was a good feeling, but I didn’t ask him details about the injury at all.’
Chelsea face a tough week, starting with Barcelona and then Arsenal. Maresca stressed the length of the run of matches and their importance. ‘It’s a big week, but at the end of this week, then we have Leeds away, Bournemouth away, Atalanta away, so it’s another big one. It’s always a big week. They are all important games.’
When asked about his future and the idea of managing in Spain, perhaps even at Barcelona, Maresca kept his answer focused on the present. He said: ‘You know me because you are always in my press conferences. Even when you ask me what’s happening in three, four months, I always say, “I don’t know”.
‘In this moment, I’m very happy to be at this huge club, against one of the best clubs in the world, and this is the most important thing.’
Maresca also spoke about how Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona inspired him to coach. He explained: ‘I decided to be a manager because of a Pep team, Barcelona, years ago. I’ve said many times: any team can decide the way they want to play.
‘I chose mine years ago and this will be the way I like to watch my team playing football and in the future. I don’t think no one can be compared to that Barcelona, to Pep, because I think they changed football in Spain, where every club was trying to play in that way.
‘Then Pep moved to Germany, and everyone was trying to play that way in Germany. Pep came to England and many clubs tried to do something similar.’
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