Cole Palmer injury return theory emerges as Chelsea star 'spotted' in training before Arsenal

Chelsea and Enzo Maresca are certainly keeping their cards close to their chest regarding Cole Palmer ahead of the Premier League clash against Arsenal. The Blues star picked up a knee injury in last weekend's draw with Manchester United and is thus a major doubt to face the Gunners on Sunday

The 22-year-old was at Stamford Bridge earlier this week for the 8-0 Conference League win against Noah with his absence an expectation having not been included in their league stage squad. After the game, Maresca provided an update on his condition upon learning Palmer was eating in the press room on Thursday.

"He's better. He's getting better," he admitted in a press conference. "If he can walk and have dinner, that doesn't mean he is completely fit. He's getting better. Hopefully we can have him for the session at least on Saturday and then we can take a decision."

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Injury news has dominated the build up to this London derby with Mikel Arteta also having a triple fitness concern. Declan Rice, Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz have all suffered recent issues with it unclear whether all three will be able to feature.

With the clash set for Sunday afternoon, injured players had an extra day following the latest updates to make one final training session. Pictures and a lengthy video have since been realised by the Blues of their sessions at Cobham with Palmer not clearly spotted in any picture or clip.

However, seemingly keen for Palmer to feature, some Fantasy Premier League content creators have done some detective work. Most notably @FPL_Harry on X has picked out a specific training photo with Marc Cucurella front and centre, however in the background is a blurred figure that many believe to be Palmer.

The outline certainly matches his physique while the haircut and colour are also very similar but the image is so blurry, it is impossible to undeniably confirm it is indeed Palmer. If it is the former Manchester City man, that certainly suggests he was able to make it out for one session and thus is firmly in contention to feature.