Why Cole Palmer is not in Chelsea squad vs Gent for Europa Conference League clash

Cole Palmer is not injured or suspended, which will lead Chelsea fans to ask why he is not in the squad to take on Gent in Thursday's Europa Conference League opener.

The England star has been in red hot form of late, which peaked with his four-goal haul inside 41 minutes during Saturday’s 4-2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion. That was the first time in Premier League history that a player had netted four times in the first half of a match.

And since the start of last season, no other player has recorded more goal contributions in the Premier League, with the weekend’s plunder taking him to 43 (28 goals and 15 assists). So why has Enzo Maresca left Palmer out against Gent?

“For sure, for us or any team in the world, Cole is an extra, something that you need. But we also need to protect some players. They need that,” the Chelsea head coach explained on Wednesday.

The decision to leave Palmer out was actually made a month ago, when Chelsea omitted him from their squad submission to UEFA. After playing 45 Blues matches last season without the presence of European football, the club are mindful of exposing him to too much game time and thus increasing the risk of injury, hence his absence.

For the same reason, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana have been left out of the squad amid game-load concerns. However, Ben Chilwell, once exiled from the first-choice squad, was simply omitted on merit grounds.

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While the Europa Conference League still has only six group games, the new format follows that of the Champions League and Europa League. It means that the club would play a total of 15 matches to win the trophy if forced to go through the new knockout play-off round.

Admittedly, this is not expected or thought likely with Chelsea considered the strongest club out of the 36 teams by some distance. However, the club and Palmer did play two entry play-off legs against Servette in August.

There is still chance for Palmer to play in the competition from February onwards. UEFA squad rules state that three new eligible players can be named in the squad once the group stages are over and before the knockouts begin, amid a deadline of February 6, 2025.

Prior to joining Chelsea on summer deadline day 2023, Palmer had scored once in eight Champions League outings. He also netted in Manchester City’s UEFA Super Cup win over Sevilla a few weeks before his £40million move to Stamford Bridge.