Palmer injury will force Chelsea to evolve, and a teenager could be the answer

Chelsea will have to do without Cole Palmer for at least six more weeks, with the 23-year-old's injury forcing the Blues to evolve in the process.

And that could be a good thing.

Blues manager Enzo Maresca confirmed the crushing news on Friday that Palmer, who has not played since Sept. 20, will not be available for selection until late November at the earliest. That timeline is significantly longer than the original one detailed by Maresca in the immediate aftermath of the recurrence of Palmer's groin issue, which originally surfaced during the pre-season but re-emerged in Chelsea's Matchweek 5 loss at Manchester United.

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"I was wrong [on Palmer's initial prognosis]," Maresca said during the pre-match press conference ahead of the club's visit to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. "Unfortunately, he needs to be out probably six more weeks." 

It's devastating news for the player, who shone as one of the best players in the Premier League over the past two seasons and helped lead Chelsea to a UEFA Conference League title and FIFA Club World Cup crown in a two-month span earlier this year. Palmer is not only hoping to continue to lead the London side to greater heights, but he's also aiming to impress England manager Thomas Tuchel ahead of next summer's World Cup in North America.

With the groin injury refusing to go away, Palmer has featured just three times in the Premier League and once in the Champions League during the current campaign, totalling 235 minutes. That's obviously suboptimal for Palmer to dazzle Tuchel, and Chelsea have sorely missed their talisman as they sit seventh in the league after seven matches.

Under Maresca, the Blues have been rebuilt around Palmer's exception skills, with the No. 10 pulling the strings in attack and making the teammates around him more dangerous. According to FBref, Palmer was responsible for 5.60 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes over the past 365 days, with others often being the beneficiaries of his productivity. That put Palmer in the 94th percentile among the big five leagues and the Champions League and Europa League, meaning Palmer outshone all but the very best of the best in creating for himself and his teammates.

With him no longer available, Maresca has had to to be creative in covering for the gaping, Palmer-sized hole in Chelsea's lineups in recent matches. It has not been easy.

"To replace Cole is difficult, because Cole is a very important player for us - probably one of the best players in the Premier League - so to replace that kind of player is always difficult," Maresca admitted.

"We don't have another player like Cole, because Cole is unique."

Chelsea FC

Without any like-for-like replacements, Maresca has shifted players around to make up for Palmer's absence. The manager has not committed to a single player to cover for Palmer, instead pulling from Chelsea's considerable depth to fill the gaps.

"With what we have it depends on the game plan," Maresca said. "Against Liverpool it was [Malo] Gusto. Against Benfica it was Enzo [Fernandez].

"We have to find another player with different qualities because we don't have a player like Cole."

However, there is a player who just joined the club who could come close to replicating Palmer's creative abilities. Chelsea secured the services of Brazilian teenage sensation Estevao following the Club World Cup with the intention of bringing him along slowly.

Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

The massive change in culture, expectations, and even language that comes from swapping Palmeiras (Estevao's previous club) for Chelsea were thought to be too big for the youngster to handle all at once, and a slow, steady approach in introducing him to the demands of the Premier League were the original intentions for a player who won't even turn 19 for another six months.

Estevao is one for the future, the thinking goes, especially with Palmer firmly entrenched as Chelsea's attacking fulcrum for the next few years.

Well, sometimes plans have to be changed, and Palmer's extended time on the trainer's table could be the catalyst that forces Estevao's emergence from unrealised potential to bona fide star.

The early signs are there. The teenager already has a goal and an assist in 264 Premier League minutes, and with three goals in five international appearances this year he's a regular on the scoresheet for Brazil's full national side.

Over the past 365 days, FBref has Estevao at 5.33 shot-creating actions and 6.23 progressive carries per 90 minutes. And while most of those days were spent in the Brazilian top flight, Estevao was, at the ages of 16 and 17 years old, among the best creators in a league known for producing the likes of legendary attacking talents Neymar, Vini Jr. and Ronaldinho, among many, many others.

@estevaowilian_

Estevao and Palmer may not be exactly the same type of player, and it may take years until the young Brazilian is the true centre-piece of a top club in global football — if ever.

But the youngster has shown this year that he can handle short bursts of responsibility as a catalyst for Palmeiras and Brazil, and with Palmer out for several more weeks it may be time to give Estevao the keys to the Chelsea attack.

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