Enzo Maresca has hinted that he may have missed the deadline to include Cole Palmer in Chelsea’s UEFA Conference League squad.
Maresca left Palmer out of the league phase to manage his minutes in light of how heavily the Blues rely on his attacking output in the Premier League. But with the knockout rounds next up, many expected the 22-year-old to be phased in as Chelsea go in search of their first trophy since 2021.
During a press conference on Friday, Maresca was asked whether Palmer had been added to the squad. “We’ll see,” he replied. “It depends a little bit on the injury from the last game, so we are going to decide in the next hours.”
There is one major problem with Maresca’s plan, however, as The Telegraph claim that the deadline to make adjustments to the Conference League squad was on Thursday night. Chelsea may therefore have missed the boat if they planned to introduce Palmer in the latter stages of the competition.
The Blues breezed through the league phase with six wins and 26 goals scored in six games. With Portuguese side Vitoria and Italian club Fiorentina finishing second and third, Chelsea are the red-hot favourites for the trophy.
Adding Palmer to the mix would only have made them more dangerous. The attacking midfielder has produced 20 goal contributions in 24 Premier League matches this term, following on from his stellar 2023/24 campaign.
If Chelsea have missed the deadline and are unable to strike a deal with UEFA, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana will also miss out. The pair were omitted in September, and although they are both out injured, they are fighting to return before the end of the season.
Maresca heads into the Conference League knockout rounds without much of the firepower that propelled Chelsea through the league phase. Mykhaylo Mudryk, who scored three goals, has been provisionally suspended after failing a drugs test.
Joao Felix, who scored four, was sent to AC Milan on loan during the winter transfer window. And Marc Guiu, who was the club’s top scorer with six, picked up a ‘bad injury’ against West Ham last time out.
Chelsea did at least manage to keep hold of exit-linked Christopher Nkunku, who has five goals in the competition. “From now on, hopefully he can get some more minutes and help us,” said Maresca. “The club and I were sure before the transfer window that Christo is one of the players we wanted to keep.”
