'I was wrong' - Everything Enzo Maresca has said about Cole Palmer ahead of Chelsea injury return

Enzo Maresca has said a lot when it comes to Cole Palmer and his scheduled Chelsea return with the England international missing the majority of the season with a persistent groin injury

Cole Palmer's long-awaited return is not too far away. Chelsea are hopeful the 23-year-old star will be fit to play later this month with the Barcelona and Arsenal double header targeted for the England international.

The Blues welcome Barca to Stamford Bridge on November 25 in their fifth Champions League league phase fixture of the campaign, five days before the Gunners make the short trip to SW6 for a mammoth Premier League clash. A persistent groin injury has plagued the early exchanges of the season for Palmer, but Chelsea are hoping to get him back on the pitch just in time for a hectic December and January schedule.

Enzo Maresca has spoken loads about his star attacker during his absence, with press conferences - understandably - dominated by the subject. So, with that being said, football.london takes a look at every word the Chelsea head coach has said about Palmer while he has been recovering.

September 22

Just a few days after Chelsea's defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, where Palmer limped off early, Maresca provided an update on the England international. Maresca revealed that Palmer was not 100% fit going into the trip to Manchester but made a special effort to try and help his teammates on the pitch.

Maresca said: "He did already a huge effort last Saturday to try to play the game. Again, he tried Saturday morning, he did the test, he was okay but not 100%.

"But he wants to be there to help his teammates to be there in that kind of game. But unfortunately then we had 10 players and also it was painful so we decided to change it. And it's more day by day, week by week, game by game to see how it is and decide what we do."

When asked if Palmer would require surgery, Maresca replied: "The medical staff, they didn't mention to me about surgery until today [meaning there has been no chat about it up until this point]. I don't know if in the next days or the next weeks, but I don't think so, to be honest."

Later in the same press conference, Maresca said: "We need to protect Cole for sure, 100%. Not only Cole in my personal view, because as I said now, because of the Club World Cup or because we never stop.

"We need to manage and protect different players. For sure Cole is one of them. Another one is Moi [Caicedo], Joao Pedro also, since he joined us, he's playing every game. The solution with Cole, I don't know.

"Now we have a meeting with the medical staff and we decide the best solution for him. But it's also a kind of injury that is not like black and white. It's not an injury that someday you can be better. It's not that you are playing and tomorrow you disappear.

"Sometimes you can be better, sometimes you can be worse. That's why we need to manage day by day."

September 26

A few days later, Chelsea welcomed Brighton to Stamford Bridge, and journalists were keen to get more words from Maresca on Palmer. Maresca was adamant Palmer did not require surgery and spoke about the club's responsibility and duty to protect his short-term and long-term fitness.

He said: "Yeah, we decided to protect a little bit Cole in terms of him not getting any worse injuries. So we decided to rest him for the next two, three weeks, probably until the international break, just to see if with that rest he can be able to recover 100% and to be completely fit after the international break.

"I don't think he needs surgery. It's just a matter of managing his pain and his groin. The amount of games is something that can happen. So this is the reason why we try to be conservative with him to give him rest and hopefully he can be 100% fit after the international break."

October 17

Once the October international break concluded, many were expecting Palmer to be fit - or at least close to it. However, Maresca delivered the bad news prior to the win against Nottingham Forest, admitting he was "wrong" with the initial time frame he stated and that Palmer would face another six weeks out of action.

October 17 before Nottingham Forest win: "I was wrong. Unfortunately he needs to be out probably six more weeks. We try just to protect Cole as much as we can and the most important thing is that.

"Unfortunately the medical staff, they are not magicians, they never know that you probably need six weeks. We hope that six weeks, they are enough, but it's a problem that we need to see step by step, week after week, but for sure he's going to be okay."

When asked if Palmer is frustrated, Maresca responded: "No, he looks very good, to be honest, he looks relaxed. He's trying to recover from the injury, he's doing all the therapy that he needs to do, so he looks good."

October 31 before win against Tottenham: "I just met him in the canteen for breakfast and I told him, I will say that in one week you are back. He was laughing. Now with Cole, exactly the same plan. Wait and hopefully he can be back soon."

November 4

In his most recent public quotes about Palmer, Maresca did not give too much away regarding when he would be fit and available again. He did, though, say he was hoping the former Manchester City attacker would be available to take on Barcelona later this month.

Before trip to Qarabag last week, Maresca said: "We hope so, but with Cole we try to plan, we try to schedule, you know, at the beginning, and then we need to review that," Maresca said before Chelsea's win over Wolves at the weekend. "So in this moment, we go day by day with Cole. He's [still] not taking any session with the team.

"To be honest, I would like to have Cole here tomorrow. I would like to have Cole early. I said many times that we are a better team with Cole. Unfortunately for us, he's out, he's injured, but for sure we want him back very soon."