Marc Cucurella cheekily reveals Chelsea team-mate Cole Palmer suffered freak broken toe injury after 'losing game on FIFA'

Shortly after he fractured his toe on his favoured left foot last Wednesday, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca lifted the lid on the matter.

The Italian said at a press conference last week: "He is probably not available for Saturday for sure, Barcelona for sure, or Arsenal for sure. Unfortunately, he had an accident at home where he hit his toe. It is nothing important, but he won't be back in the next week. I wake up many times during the night - I hit my head, my legs, my everything - so it can happen."

Ahead of the Blues' Champions League clash against Barcelona on Tuesday, the former Leicester City manager provided a more positive update on Palmer.

"Yes, Cole is wearing a [protective] boot. We don’t know when he will be back but for sure it will be soon. He’s already on the pitch, he’s already touching the ball and the feeling [for him] is good," said Maresca. "At the moment, we are only looking at tomorrow’s game. It’s a Champions League game against Barcelona, that is our focus and then we will look ahead to Arsenal. I don’t think he will be available for these two games, but he is doing well."

While many would have felt sorry for Palmer for this latest setback, Chelsea left-back Cucurella has alleged that this new injury was quite unavoidable. 

He told reporters on Monday: "To be fair, I don't believe it. It is true that these things can sometimes happen. I have had this a couple of times but I'm stronger than them, so I don't feel anything. It's a big upset for us because he's getting closer to playing with us, to train with us, and then now he needs to rest. But this is part of life, a part of footballers' lives, we have personal lives, and we have these kinds of problems, so hopefully he can recover fast."

When asked what he was doing, Cucurella replied: "I don't know. He's running because I think he lost a FIFA game or something like this, I think!"

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In some ways, 2025 has been a trying year for Palmer. After a superb year or so at Chelsea following his move from Manchester City, the England star has struggled with injuries and goal droughts. He couldn't stop scoring in his first 12 months or so at Stamford Bridge but things weren't quite going his way this year. For instance, this season, a troublesome groin problem has limited him to just four appearances in all competitions. 

Back in late September, Maresca said: "We need to protect Cole for sure, 100%. Not only Cole in my personal view because as I said now because of the Club World Cup or because we never stop, we need to manage and protect different players. The solution with Cole, I don’t know, now we have a meeting with the medical staff and we decide the best solution for him. But it’s also a kind of injury that is not like black and white. It’s an injury that someday you can be better. It’s not that you have pain and tomorrow disappear. Sometimes you can be better, sometimes you can be worse. That’s why we need to manage day by day."

He scored two goals in just over 230 minutes of action but the Blues could have been an even better place with him in their attack. Chelsea fans will hope he returns to action as soon as possible.

The FIFA Club World Cup champions had a little wobble earlier this season but after three straight wins, they are up to second in the Premier League. This week, however, could potentially be a season-defining one as they host Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday night, before entertaining London rivals and table-topping Arsenal on Sunday. Win both of those and that could do wonders for the players' confidence. If it goes the other way, their outlook may be much bleaker.