Chelsea and England given dire Cole Palmer burnout warning ahead of World Cup 2026

Molango has warned that Palmer has been left "shattered" ahead of the end of the season. The England international has made 19 appearances thus far this season, but his participation has been limited by injury. In 2023/24, he played a full season, then played at the European Championship, and also featured at the Club World Cup last summer.

Molango says he has visited Chelsea's training ground and believes Palmer is at risk of serious injury, as are other players due to the consistent demands of the fixture calendar.

He said: “For us the concern is, of course, player welfare because for me when I look at someone like Cole Palmer. Cole Palmer could go if he goes to the World Cup three consecutive summers without a break.

“To go for a 10-week window with the national team and then within four days be expected to be in the US to play the Club World Cup that finishes on the 14th of July to then be back within two weeks for training... I was the training camp of Chelsea when they came back they were shattered."

The PFA executive has also revealed his empathy for Palmer, despite his astonishing wages at Chelsea, and for the top players across Europe, who face injury woes repeatedly due to the stacked schedule. 

He added: “This is just the reality. You wonder whether this is what we wanted as an industry. I'm not sure. I think sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves and understand that sometimes less is more.

“People say he's a millionaire, yeah he is, but it doesn't give you an extra lung or an extra leg, and come to a stage where you know, 'I want to see Cole Palmer on the pitch because he's the one who makes me dream'.

“And the reality is that the fans pay right now 100 per cent of the ticket and a lot of time they get 70 per cent if they're lucky of the show or 60 because players start regulating themselves.

“The Premier League is the best product in terms of football, they make north of £4billion for 38 games. So surely there's an element of valuing the scarcity. Christmas is nice because it's not every Tuesday and I think we need to discover that because we thought in football that more is more and sometimes less is more.

“When I look at the last international window and I see (Jude) Bellingham out, Lamine Yamal out on the one side, Lucy Bronze out, is this the football we want to see? Because frankly people didn't want to spend money just to watch someone like me play.”

Palmer has yet to play under Thomas Tuchel due to his ongoing injury woes. His last cap for England came in a 1-0 win over Andorra in June. He was on the bench for the 3-1 defeat to Senegal, and he faces severe competition to make the No.10 spot his own, given the competition of Phil Foden, Eberechi Eze, Morgan Rogers, and Jude Bellingham.

After Eze scored a hat-trick against Tottenham in November, Tim Sherwood said: "We can get a bit carried away because he scored a hat-trick in the North London derby, it’s massive for Eze, it’s massive for Arsenal. But if you asked me before, who’s the most talented number 10, an actual number 10, who’s going to play in that central area? I would say Eze. He’s quick, he plays off both feet. He’s got everything. He’s got the vision. He’s the most talented number 10 we have in England. If we’re going to play with a No10, I’m not sure if Thomas Tuchel wants to do that in the World Cup. If we play a number 10, it has to be Eze."

England face Uruguay and Japan next month in pre-World Cup friendlies. Palmer's potential inclusion will reveal plenty about Tuchel's plans for him.