Chelsea talisman Cole Palmer has given an unvarnished account of the injury-blighted event that affected his 2025-26 season. He revealed that a surgical intervention was seriously considered before being ultimately ruled out.
Palmer missed 19 games in two separate injury spells. He scored 10 goals and claimed one assist in 26 Premier League appearances. His influence was waning at the same time as Chelsea’s disastrous slide to 10th place, a dizzying managerial merry-go-round, and finally his exclusion from Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad.
The 24-year-old England international revealed during the Blues’ pre-season trip to Sydney that his initial returns merely exacerbated a stubborn groin injury:
“I didn’t really know how to deal with it. The first few months, with me being injured, I just wanted to go out and play. Which I probably shouldn’t have done. Obviously I couldn’t play how I wanted to play. It was a bad season personally with injuries and stuff but I feel good now.
“The seven weeks obviously helped. I’m ready to go again. I went to Sweden or Denmark [for surgery], one of those countries, to see a doctor. We did speak about it. But I didn’t end up getting it.”
Palmer has already featured under the new Xabi Alonso regime, setting up a goal in the chaotic 6-4 win over Western Sydney Wanderers on July 28.
Xabi Alonso Outlines His Chelsea Blueprint for Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers
Xabi Alonso signed a four-year contract and was named manager rather than head coach. Then there was the big spend allowed by the hierarchy to bring in Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa, a signing specifically designed to relieve the creative load Palmer has shouldered almost alone.
Rogers and Palmer are good mates, came through the Manchester City academy together and now share a dressing room again. The Spaniard has already mapped out exactly how the duo can work together in his structure:
“You need to have a good mix, good stability players, and players that can play with more freedom… And if we get that balance right, and we get those special players in the right positions, with good control, I think that we will be more competitive with the ball and against the ball.”
However, the former Real Madrid manager has called for patience, insisting his squad need to get experience by degrees rather than obsess prematurely over what will happen in the season.