Chelsea star Cole Palmer hopes to be fit for his club when they return to Premier League action this weekend, having pulled out of international duty with England
Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer
Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
View 2 Images
Chelsea and England have been urged to sort out the international future of Cole Palmer after the furore surrounding his latest Three Lions absence.
Palmer has not played for the Three Lions since last season. The attacking midfielder was a controversial omission from England's World Cup squad in the summer, following a disappointing campaign at club level.
After a summer off, it appeared Palmer was returning to a high level in the early weeks of this campaign, with six goal involvements in seven games for Chelsea. This earned him a recall to the England squad for the Nations League matches with Spain, Czech Republic and Croatia.
But Palmer withdrew from the squad due to injury, citing his desire to manage his workload. England boss Thomas Tuchel has subsequently questioned Palmer's desire to represent his country.
And former England striker Emile Heskey believes the FA, England and Chelsea need to get their heads together to discuss a plan to get Palmer back in the international fold.
Cole Palmer
Cole Palmer pulled out of the England squad due to a muscular injury(Image: Harvey Murphy/News Images/NurPhoto)
View 2 Images
FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
Heskey told 10bet : "I don't understand why Cole Palmer doesn't seem to want to play for England, to be honest. Surely the club and the national team should be communicating better to get to the bottom of why he can't train and keeps pulling out of squads.
"Is there something we can do to help whilst he's on international duty? If not, what are Chelsea doing that allows him to play games for them, but not for England? I'd love to know what the dialogue is between the two medical teams.
"When I was playing, Ledley King couldn't train for the full week. He'd do his own regime, train on the Friday, and play on the Saturday. That works fine as long as everyone's aligned, so he's present to see tactical work even if he's managing his physical load.
"Pulling someone out of a squad without giving the national setup a chance to manage him in the same way just seems odd."