Maresca States Chelsea Did Not Pressure Palmer Regarding England Withdrawal

Enzo Maresca has affirmed that Cole Palmer was not compelled by Chelsea to withdraw from England duty, despite the player completing 90 minutes for the club both before and after the international break he missed. The 22-year-old was one of nine footballers, including Chelsea defender Levi Colwill, who did not participate in England’s victories against Greece and Ireland this month. Three Lions captain Harry Kane recently criticized players who pulled out, stating in an interview with ITV Sport that it was “a shame” and accusing his teammates of “taking advantage.” When questioned about Kane’s remarks concerning Palmer, Maresca responded: “It’s a shame this week. Obviously I think it’s a tough period of the season and maybe there’s been a taking advantage of that a little bit. I don’t really like it if I’m totally honest… I think England comes before anything.” However, when asked about these comments after Chelsea’s 2-1 away win against Leicester City, the Chelsea manager stated: “My reaction is that we finished the game 10 minutes ago, we won 2-1 and the rest, there is not any reaction, there are no comments. We finished the game 10 minutes ago.” He added: “I am not thinking about Harry Kane or what he’s saying. I don’t have any comments about this.” When pressed further on whether he or Chelsea exerted pressure on Palmer, he replied: “Me? Absolutely not.” Palmer’s performance at the King Power Stadium was subdued, with Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez ultimately securing the win. He sustained a significant challenge from Wilfred Ndidi in the first half. Maresca, however, declined to criticize the incident involving his former player when asked if it should have resulted in a red card, adding: “I don’t think Cole is the target. I don’t think that. “What I think, and I said after the Manchester United game, when there is bad intention, there has to be a different kind of punishment from the referee. I think Man United was bad intention.” He continued: “I’m not saying Wilf [Ndidi] was bad intention because I love Wilf. Overall, when there is bad intention, I think the punishment has to be different.” Maresca also confirmed that Reece James is scheduled for a scan soon due to a hamstring problem, Malo Gusto withdrew from the match overnight because of illness, and Pedro Neto sustained a knock while on international duty.