Damning Cole Palmer, England stat revealed as Chelsea star’s ambitions scrutinised
talkSPORT presenter Adrian Durham has questioned whether Chelsea ace Cole Palmer really wants to play for England, while Jamie O’Hara has claimed the playmaker should tell medical staff to ‘do one’.
Palmer has scored twice in 14 matches for England, the second of which came in the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain. However, the attacking midfielder’s form at Chelsea dipped after that, while he also dealt with persistent injuries, and he was controversially left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for this year’s World Cup.
Palmer was clearly angered by the decision. He trained hard over the summer and has been in stunning form so far this season, having notched four goals and two assists in seven appearances.
That form saw the 24-year-old earn a place in the England squad for the upcoming Nations League matches, only to drop out due to a minor muscle injury.
On talkSPORT, Durham criticised Palmer for impacting the development of other attacking midfielders such as Morgan Gibbs-White – who has replaced him in Tuchel’s squad – and Josh King.
Durham also revealed that Palmer has only played in five out of 28 of England’s games since his goal in the Euro 2024 final.
“I am starting to question Cole Palmer’s commitment to England,” he said.
“14 caps, two goals. He’s played in one World Cup qualifier in his career, and in that he was awful away to Andorra [in June 2025].
“He’s played five times for England since the Euros when he scored in the final. England have had 28 games since the Euro final in 2024.
“I can accept if a player is not fully fit, I get that.
“And if this is the case, that he has an injury that’s ruling him out, then fine, I totally get it.
“I’ve got a lot of sympathy with injured players. But let me give you that stat again. He’s played in five England games since the Euro final. And that’s five out of 28.”
‘Does he really want to play for England?’
Durham continued: “I’m questioning his commitment to England.
“Does he really want to play for England? If you don’t, tell the world you don’t want to play for England.
“Because just picking and choosing when you want to play for England is actually disrupting other No 10s like Morgan Gibbs-White, like Josh King, who might want to play for England.
“We’re all agreed Cole Palmer is a really good footballer. But, other than that goal in the Euro final, I’ve not really seen, on a consistent basis, any kind of quality or commitment from him.
“So let’s have it from Cole Palmer. Do you want to play for England or do you not want to play for England?”
O’Hara said: “I’ve had medical staff try to turn around to me and say, ‘No, you should only play 60 minutes’.
“How about, ‘No’? How about, ‘I’m in charge of my own destiny? I’m in charge of my football career. You ain’t in charge of my football career, I am.’
“Then Cole Palmer has to be a man and say, ‘No, I’ve been out, I’ve missed out on the England squad. I’ve missed a World Cup last season because I was injured and I weren’t playing, and I come back and I weren’t fit.’
“‘Now I am fit, and I’m ready to go, and Thomas Tuchel called me up. I’m going, and if you say I’m not going, I’m still going. I’m getting in my car and I’m driving there to St George’s Park because I want to be involved with England.
“‘And you can’t tell me some geezer who’s in charge of load management can tell me that I ain’t going to play for my country. Do one.'”
Meanwhile, we can reveal Chelsea are watching a powerful Danish striker.
