Xabi Alonso says he is “very happy” with Cole Palmer’s attitude and performance for Chelsea this season after he was omitted from the latest England squad.
The 24-year-old was not included in the 25-man group selected by Thomas Tuchel, who instead chose to call up Fulham’s Josh King, for next week’s UEFA Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain.
Tuchel explained that Palmer has “missed too many opportunities to impress” him after he withdrew from the most recent squad in September. He has withdrawn from five camps during the German’s tenure, three of which were due to injury.
Palmer has, for the most part, enjoyed a return to form this season after struggling with injury last year, registering five goals and three assists in all competitions, though he was sent off against Manchester United last week.
Xabi Alonso ‘very happy’ with Cole Palmer amid England snub
“We are very happy with Cole,” Alonso said at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Sunderland.
“I think he is enjoying his game, he is connecting very well with the other attackers, he is helping the team and helping the team with developing and improving what we want and what we want to achieve knowing that everything takes time but I am very happy with his quality, his attitude and the impact he is having on the rest of the team.”
Alonso said he has not spoken with Palmer about his omission from the England squad or whether he has any regrets about missing the previous international window.
“We haven’t spoken about that,” he said. “We are focused on our things, on Chelsea things and how to do better and how to help him and how he can become more and more influential on the game. Those are our topics to talk.”
Alonso added: We have enough on our plate. My impact area is my control area and what we talk about.”
Asked if he would ever tell a player to withdraw from international duty, Alonso responded: “No, no, no. I never tell. Whenever a player is fully fit, is selectable.
“If they are not fit, we try and give the national teams the reasonable information to decide together sometimes, because sometimes it is not for the player.”
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