Chelsea given worrying Cole Palmer update as World Cup fears surface

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Cole Palmer has been left ’shattered’ and Chelsea are suffering from severe burnout. That is the warning from Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Maheta Molango, who fears the biggest stars are being put at risk because they are playing too many games.

Chelsea star Palmer has struggled for form and suffered injuries this season which has restricted him to playing just 19 games out of a possible 42. Palmer played a full season in 2023-24, then went to the Euros in 2024 and did not get a proper break last summer as he played for Chelsea in the Club World Cup .

That has left Palmer in serious danger of missing this summer’s World Cup with England because he has not made Thomas Tuchel’s squad since last June. Molango revealed he has paid a visit to Chelsea’s training ground earlier this season and he fears it is going to get even worse for more players, claiming that football has reached saturation point.

Talking at the FT Live event, Molango said: “For us the concern is, of course, player welfare because for me when I look at someone like Cole Palmer . Cole Palmer could go if he goes to the World Cup three consecutive summers without a break.

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“To go for a 10-week window with the national team and then within four days be expected to be in the US to play the Club World Cup that finishes on the 14th of July to then be back within two weeks for training... I was the training camp of Chelsea when they came back they were shattered.

“This is just the reality. You wonder whether this is what we wanted as an industry. I'm not sure. I think sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves and understand that sometimes less is more.

“People say he's a millionaire, yeah he is, but it doesn't give you an extra lung or an extra leg, and come to a stage where you know, 'I want to see Cole Palmer on the pitch because he's the one who makes me dream'.

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“And the reality is that the fans pay right now 100 per cent of the ticket and a lot of time they get 70 per cent if they're lucky of the show or 60 because players start regulating themselves.

“The Premier League is the best product in terms of football, they make north of £4billion for 38 games. So surely there's an element of valuing the scarcity. Christmas is nice because it's not every Tuesday and I think we need to discover that because we thought in football that more is more and sometimes less is more.

“When I look at the last international window and I see (Jude) Bellingham out, Lamine Yamal out on the one side, Lucy Bronze out, is this the football we want to see? Because frankly people didn't want to spend money just to watch someone like me play.”

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