Chelsea are in charge of a campaign that began less than a month after winning the Club World Cup, and Cole Palmer has struggled with fitness and form this season.
Cole Palmer has been described as “devastated” (Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Cole Palmer has been ‘shattered’ and Chelsea are suffering from severe burnout. This comes as Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Maheta Molango warned that he fears big stars are putting themselves at risk by playing too many matches.
Chelsea star Palmer has struggled with form this season and has struggled with injuries, limiting him to just 19 of a possible 42 games. Palmer played a full season in 2023-24 and played in Euros in 2024, but was unable to get a proper break as he played for Chelsea in the Club World Cup last summer.
This leaves Palmer at serious risk of missing out on this summer’s World Cup with England, having not been in Thomas Tuchel’s side since June last year. Molango revealed he visited Chelsea’s training ground earlier this season, but insists football has reached a saturation point and fears the situation will get even worse for more players.
Speaking at an FT Live event, Molango said: “The concern for us is of course the welfare of the players. If you look at a player like Cole Palmer, if Cole Palmer can play in the World Cup three summers in a row without a break, he could be in.”
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“I’ll have a 10-week period with the national team, then I’ll be in the US to play in the Club World Cup which ends on July 14 within four days, and then I’ll be back within two weeks for training…I was at Chelsea’s training camp and when Chelsea came back they were shattered.
“This is just reality. You wonder if this is what we wanted as an industry. I don’t know. I think we just have to be honest with ourselves and understand that sometimes less is more.”
“People say he’s a millionaire, which is true, but it doesn’t give you extra lungs or extra legs to get to the point where you know, ‘I want to see Cole Palmer on the pitch, because he’s the guy who gives me dreams.’
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Chelsea are managing Cole Palmer’s minutes (Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
“And the reality is that while fans are currently paying 100 per cent of the ticket price, in many cases they will receive 70 per cent if they are lucky at the show, or 60 per cent as players have started to self-regulate.
“The Premier League is the best product in terms of football, making over £4 billion from 38 games, so there’s definitely an element of scarcity. Christmas is good because it’s not every Tuesday. And I think we need to discover that, because in football we thought more is more, and sometimes less is more.”
“When you look in the window for the last international game, you see (Jude) Bellingham missing, you see Lamine Yamal missing one-sided, you see Lucy Bronze missing. Is this the football we want to see? Because, frankly, people didn’t want to spend money just to watch players like me play.”
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