Chelsea star Cole Palmer is hoping to be fit for his club when he returns to Premier League action this weekend after retiring from international duty with England.
Chelsea and England have been called upon to resolve Cole Palmer’s international future following the scandal surrounding his absence from the last Three Lions.
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 after a disappointing campaign at club level.
After a summer break, Palmer appeared to be back on top form with six goals in seven appearances for Chelsea in the opening weeks of this campaign. This earned him a recall to the England squad for the Nations League matches against Spain, the Czech Republic and Croatia.
But Palmer withdrew from the squad due to injury, citing a desire to manage his workload. England manager Thomas Tuchel later questioned Palmer’s desire to represent his country.
Former England striker Emile Heskey believes the FA, England and Chelsea should come together to discuss a plan to get Palmer back on the international stage.
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Heskey told 10bet: “To be honest, I don’t understand why Cole Palmer doesn’t want to play for England. There is definitely better communication between the club and the national team to understand why he can’t train and keeps coming out of the squad.
“Is there anything we can do to help while he’s on international duty? If not, what is Chelsea doing that allows him to play for them and not for England? I’d like to know what the dialogue between the two medical teams is.
“When I played, Ledley King couldn’t train all week. He would do his routine, train on Friday, play on Saturday. It works well as long as everyone is together, so even if he manages his physical load, he’s ready to do the tactical things.
“It seems strange to remove someone from the team without giving the national set-up a chance to handle him in the same way.”