Chelsea have told Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella and Conor Gallagher they do not have to join their pre-season tour of the United States and can begin training at Cobham in early August instead.
The trio are being given an extended break after their lengthy spell with their national teams this summer. Palmer and Gallagher (England), plus Cucurella (Spain), were part of the squads that reached the final of the European Championship on July 14.
Chelsea still have four friendly games in the U.S. to play, starting with a match against Celtic today followed by Club America (July 31), Manchester City (August 3) and Real Madrid (August 6).
But the club want the trio to get some extra rest rather than face a long flight to America and back within a short period, especially as they would only get to have a few training sessions with the squad under new head coach Enzo Maresca. There was a strong likelihood they would not play many minutes either due to arriving later than the others and being behind them match fitness wise.
One of the factors in the decision is Chelsea’s involvement in the expanded FIFA Club World Cup next year, which will take place between June-July, meaning a longer campaign than usual.
Palmer, who was named the Premier League’s Player of the season for 2023-24, Gallagher and Cucurella will just start their programmes at Cobham while the rest of the players are still in America. It means they will get to have at least three weeks off.
Chelsea have one more friendly against Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge to play on August 11 before their opening Premier League fixture with Premier League champions Manchester City takes place a week later.
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