Cole Palmer says this is the best he has felt “in ages” after starting the season strongly under Xabi Alonso at Chelsea, marking a healthy return to form after a challenging previous campaign. The 24-year-old endured a difficult 2025-26 season, struggling with a groin injury that kept him out of action for nearly four months, playing only twice between August and December. Although he finished with 10 Premier League goals, a dry spell of one goal in his final eight matches dashed his hopes of making England’s World Cup squad. However, Palmer put those setbacks behind him on Monday, scoring in Chelsea’s Premier League opener against Fulham in a hard-fought 3-2 victory, proving his elite class once again.
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“Physically I feel good, probably the best I’ve felt in ages, but I think I can get fitter with games and more minutes,” Palmer told Sky Sports. “Before my groin injury, I’d never really been injured. Well, rarely injured. So then I would just come back and play when I shouldn’t have played.”
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“Obviously, the World Cup was coming up, so I was in a bit of a dilemma thinking: ‘if I don’t play, I’m not going to go. But if I play then, I can’t play [properly]’. It was just a bit of a sticky situation. I didn’t really know how to deal with it, but it’s one of those things. I was just seeing different people, getting different ideas of why I was injured and what it was. Since I’ve come back, I’ve been working every day to obviously stop it happening again. I just want to stay injury-free, and if I’m on the pitch, then I know what I can do.”
Thursday 27th August 7:15pm
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Alonso Giving Palmer the Keys to Freedom
While it is early days, Palmer has clearly been granted the creative license to express himself under Alonso. Under the previous tenures of Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior, there were suggestions that Palmer was being constrained by rigid tactical systems. He even alluded to this himself, but confirmed that those limitations were gone following conversations with his new head coach.
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“He [Alonso] just said I’d have more freedom to drift about the pitch. Just like you saw [against Fulham] with the goal I scored. Last season, I wouldn’t have even made that run because it’s not a ‘safe zone’. But he’s saying move across that zone, drop into play, come get on the ball, create, and just do what you do.”
This newfound sense of freedom could help forge a genuinely lethal attacking trio alongside Joao Pedro and new signing Morgan Rogers. All three scored during the match at Craven Cottage, earning them the playful nickname ‘JP Morgan’. While Palmer is far from a fan of the nickname, jokingly calling it “rubbish,” he is genuinely excited by the prospect of the developing chemistry between the three forwards.
“It’s a rubbish name. We need to come up with something better than that,” he joked. “I think we’ve got a different mix of qualities. Joao can do a bit of everything. Morgan’s more physical and I’m more technical, so I think we’ve got a good balance.”
Title Charge on for Chelsea?
The win over Fulham provided Chelsea with a perfect start to the season, and with Alonso’s pedigree and the club’s lack of European football, many are tipping the Blue as surprise contenders for the Premier League title.
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Speaking on Monday Night Football, Gary Neville suggested that while Arsenal might still be the team to beat, Chelsea are in an extremely strong position and could make a serious push for second place. Palmer, however, remains grounded, insisting that no discussion of a title race has taken place in the dressing room. “We’ve not even spoken about it,” Palmer said. “You can’t say title race yet, we’ve only played one game.” Nevertheless, when asked if he believes the squad has the quality to challenge the traditional powers, Palmer responded with absolute assurance: “Yeah, I think so.”