Worst Cole Palmer injury fears explained as Chelsea face anxious Barcelona wait

• Chelsea
• Chelsea News
• Ruud Gullit

Chelsea are hopeful Cole Palmer will return to the pitch after the international break with the 23-year-old absent since the defeat to Manchester United on September 20

Ruud Gullit believes Chelsea are missing Cole Palmer "a lot", with the former Blues midfielder also of the opinion that the club's supporters are struggling to connect with this current crop of players.

Palmer has featured just four times for Chelsea in all competitions this season due to a persistent groin injury, with the Blues spending the majority of the campaign without their star attacking player. Despite that, it has been a strong start to the season for Enzo Maresca and his players, though there have been a few disappointing results along the way.

As we head into the third international break of the campaign, the west Londoners occupy third place in the Premier League table with six wins, two draws and three defeats in their first 11 matches, while the Blues are on seven points from their opening four games in the Champions League league phase and into the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup.

While Chelsea are continuing to go about their business without Palmer, Gullit believes the England international has been a huge miss for his former club. When asked by football.london on behalf of Video Gamer, Gullit said: "Oh, they're missing him a lot. That's what I mean when people are trying to relate to the players, Palmer is somebody that they want to see.

"They're missing him and I'm missing watching him too. He gives a little bit of sparkle to the team when it is needed."

Palmer and Reece James are the two Chelsea players easiest to "identify with" from a supporter's perspective, according to Gullit. He added: "If it's already difficult for me to identify with the team, then it is difficult for the fans as well. You can see sometimes that the fans are not happy with what they see.

"If that is because of the results, I don't know. They had a good result with the Club World Cup. I don't know if that is of much importance for them. I think they would be much happier if they saw some consistency in the Premier League to understand what Chelsea is all about.

"Chelsea for me it's difficult to analyse a little bit because there's so many players and when Palmer was playing you could relate to him. Reece James, also, you could relate to a certain point, but now their team changes all the time.

"[Nicolas] Jackson also left so I have to wait to give a verdict on what Chelsea is all about. If they can qualify for the Champions League, that's what it's always important for Chelsea. The investments they made, they should be able to do that. But to get this Chelsea blueprint, it might take time. But I don't think I'd want to be waiting for too long."

Chelsea are hopeful Palmer will return after the international break, with Maresca confirming a six-week timeline last month. If that estimation from the Blues head coach is correct, then Palmer should be back in action on November 27 - two days before Chelsea are scheduled to take on Barcelona in the Champions League.