Chelsea handed crucial Cole Palmer injury update as Thomas Tuchel makes exciting admission

Cole Palmer's season has been disrupted by a complex groin injury with the Chelsea attacker often not looking 100% fit but there appears to be some good news for the England international

Cole Palmer is approaching something close to full fitness, England manager Thomas Tuchel has claimed, in what will come as a huge boost for the Three Lions and Chelsea.

Palmer is currently with the England camp for their upcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan as the Blues attacker looks to impress Tuchel, having only played 65 minutes under the German up until now. The 23-year-old has seen his season dominated by a complicated groin injury, but Tuchel believes we are close to seeing Palmer explode once again - and revealed that during the Blues' defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium earlier this month, he was really excited by what he saw from the former Manchester City man.

Speaking ahead of England's friendly with Uruguay on Friday night, Tuchel said this on Palmer: "We saw good data lately. I saw him live against Arsenal and for the first time in a long time, I had the feeling his stride was back to the original lengths.

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"Before, I felt he was not free and the stride was not long enough, the acceleration was not there and the movement was not free. I got the feedback from him and the feedback from Chelsea was that he felt during this game he was much, much better and he had a very strong game against Aston Villa with a huge physical output that we could see and from there, that was the first step.

"Before, we saw the physical output is matching also like the impression we have that was lacking something, but he is back to full confidence and we see it in training."

Tuchel continued: "He is not pulling out or holding back. At the same time, that is what we wanted. We have had four training sessions and he needs to show up. He cannot hold back.

"He needs to understands he fights for his place and we will not hand anything to anyone on a silver platter. He [approached the first few days in camp] in a very nice way in exactly the right way."

Despite Palmer's undeniable talent, there is no guarantee he will secure a place in Tuchel's World Cup squad this summer, particularly because of such fierce competition in his position. Eberechi Eze, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Morgan Rogers are just some of the players competing in a similar position to Palmer.

Tuchel has challenged Chelsea's No.10 to show what he can do during the ongoing international break. The England boss said: "Honestly, he has to show [it], because we have more evidence without him than with him, so the pressure is on him. He has had a difficult season but he has also had a difficult spell with the national team.

"He was only available once for us and when he was available, we decided to stick with the same squad so there is big competition for his best position, the No.10.

"He really tries. When I hug him, that means he is smiling, otherwise he would not get a hug. He is in good spirits, he is open and he is communicating and is showing his quality.

"He is very engaged in the group and these are very important steps to show the performance to be involved in the group and have connections within the group, so he will get his chances during the next matches."