Pochettino hit with Palmer injury scare as Chelsea shown perfect replacement

When they learned what happened to Cole Palmer on Thursday night while he was playing for England Under-21s, Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea will have been quite alarmed. The £42.5 million summer acquisition outperformed expectations against Burnley, contributing significantly to the Blues’ 4-1 triumph at Turf Moor with Raheem Sterling.

Palmer usually played as a winger during his limited cameo appearances for Manchester City’s first team, but it appears like Pochettino has other plans for Palmer. “In the midfield area they start to connect and get a good link,” Pochettino said, according to the official Chelsea website.

Cole Palmer is another skilled athlete that connects with his teammates. He is given the right side of the field as his starting position, but we also allow him the opportunity to play beyond the lines since he is capable of reading what the team needs and being unpredictable because football is an unpredictable game.

Palmer moved to the center of the field frequently while Chelsea’s 21-year-old scored his first goal and picked up an assist during the win over Burnley. However, once the game was over, the predominant discussion around Palmer did not center on his goal-related contributions.

Palmer was seen gripping his hamstring in the closing minutes of the game before being replaced, raising fears that he had hurt himself.Palmer, though, joined his teammates for international matches against Serbia and Ukraine, so those concerns were allayed.

Palmer was joined in the starting XI for the match against Serbia on Thursday night by Noni Madueke and Bashir Humphreys. Late in the first half, the young Three Lions took the lead, and a short while later Palmer was seen gripping his right quadricep and looking uncomfortable.

Palmer did post on his Instagram account after the game: “Incredible result and very proud to lead this team out tonight.” Palmer was then taken off at halftime, and England went on to thrash their opponents 9-1.Madueke was one of the three players to score a hat trick, and his declaration of intent to Pochettino may have come at the ideal time given that Palmer may be facing some time on the sidelines.

After Madueke was spotted attending a party while still recovering from an injury, Pochettino gave him a limited amount of playing time.The 21-year-old struck against AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup early in the campaign, and his most recent goals were a blatant demonstration of his talent.

In the 53rd minute, Madueke got the ball centrally from the right and drifted past three defenders before hitting across the ball and into the corner for his first goal of the match and England’s fourth. Six minutes later, Madueke doubled his night’s total with a deft inside-the-box finish off of a Rico Lewis cross.

Palmer and Madueke are obviously two distinct players with two different sets of skills, but if Palmer’s injury turns out to be serious, Madueke has reportedly shown he is prepared for the job at hand.