Chelsea manager Alonso insists Cole Palmer is committed to playing for England

Xabi Alonso has said Cole Palmer is committed to playing for England and revealed Chelsea’s No 10 missed this international break with a problem related to the groin injury that kept him out for much of last season.

Thomas Tuchel did not hide his disappointment with Palmer, who is fit to face Bournemouth on Saturday, after the attacker made himself unavailable for the start of his country’s Nations League campaign last month. Tuchel said the 24-year-old “misses too many opportunities” to play for England and questioned whether Palmer wanted to be part of the squad.

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Palmer has won five caps since scoring against Spain in the Euro 2024 final but his latest withdrawal was for genuine reasons. Palmer struggled with persistent groin pain last season, which led to him missing out on a place in Tuchel’s World Cup squad, and felt minor irritation before Chelsea’s defeat by Brentford last month. It still needs careful management, and Alonso is adamant Chelsea’s talisman is intent on playing for England.

“The most important thing for Cole is to be fully fit, that he enjoys his game, that he is feeling OK,” Chelsea’s manager said. “Whenever he is not, like in the Brentford game, we could see that he was struggling. He’s committed but he needs to be fully fit to play. We need him – the club and the national team.”

The recent issue is nowhere as near as bad as when Palmer struggled to shoot properly last season. Resting during the extended break has helped. “Now he’s fine,” Alonso said. “He’s been feeling better this week. We use the first two weeks for him to recover. It’s a little bit from the pubalgia he had.”

Tuchel has plenty of competition in attacking midfield and it remains to be seen whether he picks Palmer for next month’s games against Croatia and Spain. Alonso was asked whether a player can be considered truly world class if they do not play international football. “Things happen naturally,” he said. “When you show for your club that you are a top-level player and you have regularity, normally it is the natural way that you are part of the national team.”

Alonso was nonplussed to hear about the broadcaster Piers Morgan calling Palmer a bottle job for failing to represent England. “I don’t know the comment and I don’t know the guy,” he said.

Palmer has been in fine form for Chelsea this season, scoring four goals. They will need him at his best after three league games without a win. Alonso hopes that Reece James, Moisés Caicedo and Marco Palestra will also return from injury against Bournemouth.