Enzo Maresca has said he is keen to ‘protect’ Cole Palmer and has explained his reason for leaving the midfielder out of Chelsea’s squad for the Europa Conference League.
Palmer was omitted from the Chelsea squad for the competition’s league phase with Maresca keen to provide the 22-year-old with additional rest.
The England international was named PFA Young Player of the Year in 2023/24 and has started the new season in superb form.
He scored four first-half goals against Brighton at the weekend, becoming the first player in Premier League history to achieve that feat, and has 10 goal involvements in six appearances.
Maresca has revealed his reasoning for leaving Palmer out of European games in the league phase and said he thinks the player ‘needs to be protected.
“We played some games without Cole, but sure and for us, Cole is something extra that you need,” Maresca said at his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Gent.
“We also need to think a bit to protect some players. They need that. There is a reason behind it and I think Cole needs to be protected.”
Maresca was asked on how he plans to keep his large squad content with game time, with the Europa Conference League offering a chance for rotation.
“We try to share minutes with all of them. In this moment, probably, it looks like we have players that are playing in the Premier League and players playing in the cups; Conference, Carabao or FA Cup.
“It’s not like this, in general it won’t be like this. We try to give them the opportunity.
“Last week, they all had a very good game. Hopefully tomorrow, we have a good game.”
