Chelsea have four replacements for Cole Palmer as Enzo Maresca bids to solve injury issue

Chelsea are set to be without Cole Palmer for the remainder of the month as the 23-year-old continues to recover from his persistent groin injury.

Palmer is expected to miss at least four matches for the Blues, with the club anticipating the England international to be out for weeks, rather than months, football.london understands. Enzo Maresca is going to have to deal with his star attacker's absence, but the Chelsea head coach has become somewhat accustomed to that already this season.

The Chelsea star has made just four appearances in all competitions this term due to the ongoing groin issues he has been suffering with. Palmer's last appearance for the Blues was in the 2-1 defeat at Manchester United last month when the former Manchester City midfielder limped off the pitch at Old Trafford after 20 minutes.

Chelsea go to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League once the international break has concluded, with Maresca set to ponder a number of options to go in the No.10 role at the City Ground. One of them could be Estevao Willian, who is the talk of the town at the moment after his dramatic winning goal against Liverpool at the weekend.

The 18-year-old Brazilian shone off the bench for the Blues to help them secure a memorable victory against the champions at Stamford Bridge. Estevao can be used on the right-hand side or in a more central role behind the striker. When he came on against Benfica just a few days before the Liverpool win, the Brazil international was deployed in the No.10 role.

Maresca has spoke glowingly about Estevao and his versatility in the teenager's early days in SW6. Speaking last week, the Blues boss said: "We consider all of our players to give them minutes in all positions.

"Estevao reminds me a lot of Cole when Cole was with me in the Under-23s at [Manchester] City. Cole's path has been similar to Estevao's path in terms of starting wide as a winger and then slowly you can move inside. In the Premier League, if you want to play in the middle, you need to be physically prepared."

Another option could be Enzo Fernandez. The Argentine often drifts into the more advanced role when Chelsea have possession, but there have been a few instances - see the Club World Cup final, for example - when Fernandez has started further up the field. To do that, though, it would likely require Romeo Lavia to start in midfield, unless Maresca was to use one of Malo Gusto or Reece James there.

Joao Pedro is another alternative to Palmer, but given Chelsea are so short of strikers at the moment, the Brazilian is more likely to be used as the sole No.9. Facundo Buonanotte is perhaps the most like-for-like replacement for Palmer, but the Argentine has featured just three times since joining the Blues on loan in the summer.

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