Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior said Cole Palmer is “very happy” at the club following reports the England international is homesick.
Palmer moved to Stamford Bridge in 2023 from Manchester City where he had progressed from the academy to the first team but struggled for minutes under Pep Guardiola.
It has been the most difficult period of the 23-year-old’s career as injury and poor form have seen his goals and assists dry up.
He has scored only four times in the Premier League this season and was visibly frustrated during the second half of last Saturday’s 2-0 win at home to Brentford.
“I’ve had numerous conversations with Cole and he seems very happy to be here, he is very happy to be here,” said Rosenior.
“He’s a huge part of our plans in the long term. He’s an outstanding player. Every player goes through difficult moments in their career in terms of injury. It’s not any reflection of his quality.”
Palmer was one of a number of players whose fitness and time spent on the pitch became a point of controversy under former boss Enzo Maresca.
Club bosses were unhappy that the Italian was trying to hurry players back from injury despite advice to the contrary from medical staff, with Palmer’s ongoing groin problem contributing to disagreements internally.
Rosenior was appointed on the understanding he would be willing to work within guidelines from medics with the club not willing to alter its stance.
“My job, the club’s job, is to get (Palmer) a place where he can consistently perform at the level he wants to,” he said. “There was frustration in the Brentford game, not because he wasn’t happy, but because he was in pain and couldn’t perform to the level he wanted to for the club.
“He’s a great kid but we have to make sure we look after him in the right way. That’s why I haven’t involved him in the last game.
“I want to look after the players, I want them to perform at their very peak level. There’s a number of players that we have to look after in a different way, not just force them out not to perform. I’ve rotated the squad and I’ll continue to do that.
“I want to make sure the players come though this period with wins and in full health, and Cole is one of those players.”
Rosenior said he was satisfied with the levels of leadership in his group despite there being few obvious candidates for vocally taking charge on the pitch.
“I’ve played with players who are very loud, who shout and point but who hide from the ball and don’t take responsibility,” he said. “I won’t name names.
“There’s different ways to lead. My generation is different to the younger generation in terms of communication.
“But I love the group. Whether it’s Reece (James) or Enzo (Fernandez) or Moises (Caicedo) or Trevoh Chalobah or Tosin (Adarabioyo).
“They’re all leaders in their own right. They have to be themselves. I’m not going to ask them to be something they’re not.”
