Chelsea interim head coach Calum McFarlane is confident that Cole Palmer can play a starring role for England at the World Cup despite enduring the most difficult season of his senior career.
The 23-year-old has seen his campaign badly impaired by injury which in turn has affected his ability to perform consistently when he has played.
Palmer has scored only 10 goals in all competitions, by far his lowest return since moving to Stamford Bridge from Manchester City in 2023, and has struggled to impact games with the regularity that fans had grown used to.
That has led to questions surrounding the kind of influence he will be able to have for Thomas Tuchel’s side this summer.
But stand-in boss McFarlane, who faces his first home game in charge against Nottingham Forest on Monday, thinks the playmaker will be able to put his struggles behind him to perform for his country.
“It’s been a difficult period for Cole,” said McFarlane. “He’s had his first injury that he’s never had in his career. He’s had to learn how to deal with that.
“I don’t agree with the narrative that he isn’t playing well. There’s obviously games where he can impact more, but there’s also been a lot of occasions where he’s created a lot of good chances for players. He can’t control whether that’s finished, he can just put the ball in the position.
“I do think he’s had some really good games in the last three months. It’s just a case of building that consistency.
“I’m really pleased with Cole. He showed us his talent every single day. His energy, his enthusiasm to play. He’s still a top, top player, one of the best in the world.
“I have no concern over Cole being ready to impact games from now until the end of the season and hopefully in the World Cup with big moments for England.”
Palmer has missed 21 games for Chelsea this season, the majority with a recurring hamstring problem that meant he had featured only twice for the team in the Premier League by December.
He was however fit to appear in both of both of England’s friendlies during the most recent international break, the draw against Uruguay and the defeat to Japan, both at Wembley.
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He is likely to be in competition with Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham for a starting place in Tuchel’s team at the World Cup.
Tuchel noted at the time that Palmer had appeared to have recovered his stride length after struggling for so long to recover from a groin problem.
Palmer came on as a substitute in the Euro 2024 final to score England’s equaliser, before Mikel Oyarzabal provided the winner to lift the trophy with Spain.
His only other goal came in a warm-up game for that tournament against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
