'He was very good' - Enzo Maresca reveals reaction to Cole Palmer's furious reaction to substitution in Aston Villa loss

Palmer featured in Enzo Maresca's starting lineup against the Villans on Saturday at Stamford Bridge but was substituted in the 72nd minute as the Italian coach wanted to introduce a fresh pair of legs in the attack by bringing on Estevao Willian. Palmer, however, was not happy to be withdrawn before completing full 90 minutes as he was visibly angry while approaching the dugout.

Overall, it was a disappointing night for Maresca's men as they gave up on their first half lead to lose three points on home soil. Joao Pedro had handed the hosts the lead in the 37th minute, which was cancelled out by Watkins just past the hour mark before the England international scored a second to seal his team's 11th consecutive win across all competitions.

Chelsea manager Maresca did not pay much heed to Palmer's reaction on being substituted as he played down the incident while speaking to reporters at his post-match press conference. The head coach said: "No, no. He was working very good. He was on the ball and off the ball, pressing, he was very good. We have another game now in 48 hours, so he was good and we are happy that he's back."

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While Palmer has not been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge in the near future, many believe that the English attacker is destined for another high-profile transfer at some point. Former Blues star Frank Leboeuf, however, has advised Palmer to stay in London.

Speaking in association with ToonieBet,  Leboeuf told GOAL: "If you are Cole Palmer, do you want to play for Real Madrid? Where are you going to play? You have Jude Bellingham, so many others. You have to make the right choice. You have to think twice. Okay, I want to be at the best club in the world - maybe Real Madrid are the best club in the world - but you want to play, you don’t want to be on the bench. That doesn’t make any sense. We talked about [Florian] Wirtz going to Bayern Munich last season, but there was [Jamal] Musiala there - you can’t play with Musiala and Wirtz, unless you put Wirtz on the left, which is possible, but it was the right choice for Wirtz to go to Liverpool. Nobody expected it would go how it is right now. 

"Cole Palmer has had a two-year career. City didn’t want to keep him, he was a real surprise, fantastic player, but slow down, you play for Chelsea Football Club and you can get something out of it. You never know, maybe you are at the right club. Maybe something will happen to Chelsea. Who would have thought that [Frank] Lampard would have the career he did when he came to Chelsea? Maybe a bit, but not that crazy. 

"I remember being at Chelsea in ‘99 when Real Madrid called me and I said: ‘I’m staying there, I love the club, they are great, the football is great, the fans are great, so why would I go there? I know what I have and what I would get’. Again, you have to think twice. For the fame, maybe it is better to go to Real Madrid when you are at Chelsea, but I’m not even sure about that anymore. What we see at Real Madrid, they are not the best of the best right now. Maybe they are going to come back because it’s a big club, but it’s not right now - you are talking about history, not the present time."

Chelsea, who have now won just one out of their last six Premier League matches, will at least hope to end the year on a high as they next face Bournemouth at home on Tuesday in a crucial league clash.