Cole Palmer was withdrawn from Chelsea’s starting XI to face West Ham as a precaution after ‘feeling something’ during the visitors’ warm-up at the London Stadium.
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.
It was subsequently confirmed that Estevao would replace Palmer in the the Blues’ 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.
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It was not immediately apparent why Palmer had dropped out of Maresca’s XI, but Sky Sports reporter David Craig provided some clarity on the situation just moments before Lucas Paqueta opened the scoring with a wonder strike in east London.
According to Craig, Maresca had told him that Palmer had ‘felt something’ during Chelsea’s warm-up, though Italian refused to be drawn on what exactly the issue was with the forward.
With that in mind, Chelsea felt it was sensible to remove Palmer from the match as a ‘precaution’, with Maresca not willing to risk arguably his most important player at this early stage of the campaign.
Maresca was said to have ruled out any discussion about Palmer dealing with a possible illness.
More to follow.
