England carry out Cole Palmer medical checks as Thomas Tuchel considers calling up Chelsea star

The Chelsea star missed the last camp which left Thomas Tuchel frustrated

Tuchel has been considering whether to name Palmer in his England squad on Friday ahead of Nations League group-phase games against Croatia at Wembley next Thursday and Spain in Madrid next Sunday.

Palmer has scored three goals and contributed three assists in nine Premier League games for Chelsea so far this season but was left out of the England squad for the World Cup and has not played for his country since March.

He was initially named in Tuchel’s squad for the last international break but dropped out due to injury, with the England head coach frustrated as he concluded the Chelsea talisman misses “too many opportunities” to represent the Three Lions.

"For sure, it is a missed opportunity. It is another missed opportunity. He misses too many opportunities and I don’t blame him for it, it is just a fact,” Tuchel said. “He misses way too many camps.

“I can only judge what I witness in my team. For that, you have to be in camp. If you are not in camp there is a next level to impress that you cannot achieve, because you only can do it when you are actually with me and us on the pitch. So, yes, it is a missed opportunity.”

Palmer has just 14 caps for England at senior level despite having been the scorer of their only goal in the final of Euro 2024, which they lost to Spain. He has only scored one other goal for England besides that strike against Spain: a penalty in a friendly victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina also in 2024.

He has featured in only three of the 26 matches of Tuchel’s England tenure so far.

Palmer scored the second of Chelsea’s two goals last Saturday as they beat 10-man Manchester United in the Premier League.