Palmer told to enjoy his football and wait for goals to return

Cole Palmer has been told to keep enjoying his football by boss Enzo Maresca, who is confident the player will return to form soon.

The 22-year-old, who established himself as Chelsea’s talisman after arriving in 2023, has been out of sorts in recent weeks.

Palmer has not scored in his past seven appearances and missed several opportunities against Southampton on Tuesday night.

Maresca, though, has insisted he is happy with how Palmer is playing, and predicted his goal drought will end soon.

“Cole Palmer, I will say once again, is a human being,” he said.

“All the big players, all the big clubs, all the big managers, we all go through bad moments, or moments when we struggle to score.

“In this moment, Cole is struggling to score or do the right thing. But he is happy. He knows that this is something normal.”

Despite Palmer’s struggles, Chelsea brushed aside the Saints, with Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella scoring in a 4-0 win. 

Palmer even took to social media after the match to address his slump, posting on his Instagram story: “Don’t worry, I will be back.”

“Cole, even though he is young, he has shared time in big clubs, with big players, so he knows this is normal. It’s how you react and he is reacting perfectly.

“He is laughing, he is happy. He has to enjoy football and we have no doubt he will score more goals. He’s a top player, and a top guy.

“When we don’t win, or he doesn’t score, he looks frustrated, but it’s normal. We are completely happy with him, and he is happy.”