Cole Palmer is back with Enzo Maresca secretive about if he and Estevao will start vs Arsenal | OneFootball

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has confirmed “best player” Cole Palmer is back, but would not let on whether he and Estevao will start the important match against Arsenal at the weekend.

The Blues have been on a tremendous run of late. They have lifted themselves to second in the Premier League and seventh in the Champions League.

They have won five of their last six games in all competitions, and have lost just once since September. They have done all of that without superstar Palmer, who’s been out injured since the game against Manchester United in September.

He was on track to return from his groin injury before injuring his toe in a freak accident at home. The suggestion was that he could spend a few more weeks out, but Chelsea boss Maresca has delivered the shock verdict that Palmer is available to face Arsenal on Sunday.

He said on if Palmer would start or be on the bench: “He is available for both. Good news for both.”

“Everyone is happy, the team-mates are happy, we are all happy and the most important thing is Cole is happy.

“He is our best player, we are happy he is back, we need to give him time to be 100 per cent fit. He has done fantastic [things] in the past and no doubt he is going to do very good for this club in the future.”

Palmer’s availability comes amid the surge in form of 18-year-old winger Estevao, who scored against Barcelona in the week – his third goal in as many Champions League games.

Maresca said of the winger: “It’s always good that the ones who start and play do the right things.

“They give me a doubt always for the next games and that’s good. It’s a good problem for the manager always.”

Unleashing a man who came eighth in the Ballon d’Or alongside a prodigiously talented teenager who’s been labelled the best talent to come out of Brazil since Neymar would be a threat to any side.

It has come at a perfect time, then, with second-placed Chelsea facing league leaders Arsenal, who have a six-point gap on them.

Palmer and Estevao have so far played just 51 minutes alongside each other, but it’s clear Maresca knows he’s got two aces.

He said recently: “For me, it’s very, very similar to Cole. I had Cole at the same age as Estevao at [Manchester] City under-23, and they are very similar.

“Cole started playing wide because he needed a bit [more] physicality; now he’s playing inside.

“And Estevao, they are quite similar, now he’s playing wide but in the future I think he’s more of an inside player.”

Estevao also suggested he speaks to Palmer and watches how he trains in order to help him adapt, and if he can have a similar impact to the Englishman then Chelsea will be a remarkably dangerous force in England and Europe.