Imagine the call from Cole Palmer to his Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca after suffering a new injury from home days before a long-awaited return to the lineup.
Palmer had been hampered by a groin injury since August, missing all but four games of the season including the last 11 across all competitions.
The 23-year-old was set to return to the Blues for their 7:30am ET visit to Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday but Palmer’s house had other ideas.
Cole Palmer suffers new injury at home — Chelsea star’s impending return will wait
According to Gail Davis of Sky Sports, Palmer — wait for it — stubbed the little toe of his foot on a door at home, fracturing it.
Maresca said Palmer isn’t limping badly but is currently not wearing ‘socks or flip-flops’ as contact with footwear is ‘a bit painful.’
“For sure he won’t feature in this game, and for sure not for Barcelona or Arsenal,” Enzo Maresca said Friday. “Unfortunately, he had an accident at home two days ago where he hit his toe. It is fractured. It’s disappointing but these things can happen. It’s nothing too serious but it’s causing him some pain on his little toe and for sure he’s not going to be available for this week or next.
“He was very close to being back with us from his groin issue which is very good but then he had this problem with his toe, which has set him back. It’s nothing major but he needs a bit more time to recover.”
More to come...