Delap, Palmer & Lavia: Early Chelsea injury news and expected return dates ahead of Brentford matchplaceholder image
Delap, Palmer & Lavia: Early Chelsea injury news and expected return dates ahead of Brentford match | Getty Images
The latest Chelsea injury news with updates on the fitness of Liam Delap and Cole Palmer.
Second-placed Chelsea may have enjoyed a strong start to the new season on the pitch but that doesn’t mean that everything has gone according to plan for Enzo Maresca – the club were left scrambling for answers on deadline day after a serious injury to Liam Delap.
Delap joins Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia and others in the treatment room as we head into the international break, and the Blues could be without several potential starters when they return to Premier League action with an away game against Brentford on Saturday 13 September.
We’ve got all of the latest injury news on Chelsea’s stricken players below, along with updates on their expected return dates when available.
How long will Liam Delap be out with injury?
Summer signing Delap has started Chelsea’s last two matches but will now be stuck on the sidelines for an extended period due to a hamstring injury sustained during the first half of the controversial 2-0 win over Fulham. It’s an outcome that many predicted, with the Blues unable to recover from a gruelling 2024/25 campaign due to Club World Cup commitments over the summer.
Maresca told the media that he expects Delap to be unavailable for “six to eight weeks”, indicating that he has likely sustained a grade two tear. As a result, the most optimistic assessment of Delap’s likely return date would see him returning in time for Chelsea’s visit to Nottingham Forest in mid-October.
The injury to Delap had a knock-on effect on Chelsea’s deadline day business, forcing them to reach an agreement with Sunderland to arrange the early termination of Marc Guiu’s loan deal at the Stadium of Light. The Spaniard will now serve as a back-up to João Pedro after Nicolas Jackson succeeded in forcing a move to Bayern Munich through on the final day of the summer window.
Will Cole Palmer be back after the international break?
Palmer has now missed the last two matches due to a pre-existing groin injury which he aggravated during the warm-up ahead of the recent victory over West Ham United, and was forced to withdraw from Thomas Tuchel’s England squad as a result.
Maresca has described Palmer has being “day by day,” which suggests that the prognosis is not as bad as first feared, but the attacking midfielder has yet to return to training at Cobham. Minor groin strains can heal within two weeks, but a more serious grade two strain could sideline Palmer for up to six weeks.
The Chelsea manager also told the press that Palmer’s withdrawal from the upcoming World Cup qualifying matches against Andorra and Serbia was “Thomas [Tuchel]’s decision” rather than an absolute necessity. Maresca’s comments suggest that Palmer is unlikely to be out for too long, so there remains some cause for optimism about his chances of being involved against Brentford.
Romeo Lavia & Benoît Badiashile injury latest
Two other players who are working their way towards imminent returns from muscular injuries are defender Badiashile and injury-plagued midfielder Lavia, and although neither are expected to be ready for action against Brentford they are both getting closer to full fitness.
Maresca has suggested that both players will be available for selection in September but that the game at the Brentford Community Stadium is likely to come too soon for either. It is unclear as yet whether either will be ready to face Manchester United at Old Trafford the following week.
Levi Colwill, meanwhile, is a long-term absentee due to a serious ACL injury. The defender underwent successful surgery in August and is expected to miss the majority of the season, although it is far too early in his recovery for a specific return date to have been identified. Mykhaylo Mudryk remains suspended after being charged by the FA with violating anti-doping rules, and will also be unavailable for selection against Brentford.
Continue Reading