Cole Palmer was taken out of Chelsea’s starting XI to face West Ham as a precaution after ‘feeling something’ in his groin during the visitors’ warm-up at the London Stadium.
Chelsea came back from a goal down to romp to an emphatic 5-1 victory over the Hammers, with Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah all netting after Lucas Paqueta’s early wonder strike.
But Palmer’s pre-match withdrawal put a slight dampener on the Blues’ rampant win and it remains to be seen how long Chelsea will be without their star man.
The 23-year-old attacker would no doubt have been itching to get back out on the field after a quiet start to the season in Chelsea’s goalless draw at home to Crystal Palace last weekend.
And while Palmer was named in Enzo Maresca’s side for tonight’s derby in the capital, there were worrying scenes as the England international appeared to hobble off the pitch alongside a member of Chelsea’s medical staff shortly before kick-off.
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It was soon confirmed that Estevao had been given the nod to replace Palmer in Maresca’s lineup, with the 18-year-old Brazilian coming in to make his full Premier League debut.
Estevao made his first competitive appearance for Chelsea against Palace last weekend, coming on as a substitute for Jamie Gittens in the 54th minute at Stamford Bridge.
Though it was not immediately apparent why Palmer had dropped out of Maresca’s XI, Maresca provided some clarity at his post-match press conference – and revealed that the forward had been struggling for fitness for several days.
‘Cole, in the last four or five days, he was not 100 per cent,’ the Chelsea head coach told reporters.
‘Today, he tried in the warm-up but he felt something so we preferred to not take any risks.
‘We will see in the next hours if it’s something important or not.’
Maresca applauded Palmer for making a ‘big effort’ to try and get himself fit despite feeling discomfort in his groin.
‘It was already in the Palace game that he was not 100 per cent,’ the Italian added.
‘But he’s trying to make a big effort for the club, for the team, for the fans because he’s really keen about the team.
‘Tonight, again, he tried again but it was not very good.’
Speaking to Sky Sports shortly after the final whistle, Marc Cucurella admitted the sudden loss of Palmer made life a little more ‘difficult’ for Chelsea.
‘It was difficult because we practice one thing and at the end we need to change very fast,’ the Spaniard said.
‘But I think Estevao, in this case, played an amazing game.
‘I think it’s very important because we have a good squad, all of us, we are ready at any time and we are very happy because we showed we have a good team.’
On Palmer’s replacement Estevao, Cucurella added: ‘I think he’s young but he showed that he’s very mature.
‘He made very good decisions and all the new players, all the new signings came here to help the team, to bring something good, good energy, good talent.
‘I think we have an amazing squad, so I hope we can do good things this season.’
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