LIAM ROSENIOR claims Cole Palmer IS happy at Chelsea.
SunSport understands the England international is unsettled because he misses his friends from home city and might be tempted to rejoin City or sign for Manchester United, the club he supported as a kid.
Palmer, 23, looked out of sorts against Brentford last weekend, refusing to celebrate his late penalty and then quickly heading down the tunnel at full time.
But Rosenior is adamant Palmer is simply frustrated by ongoing injury problems.
The Chelsea head coach said: “I’ve had numerous conversations with Cole and he seems very, very happy to be here.
“He is very, very happy to be here. He’s a huge part of our plans in the long term.
“He’s an outstanding player. Every player goes through difficult moments in their careers in terms of injury.
“But my job and the club’s job is to get him in a place where he can consistently perform at the level that he wants to.
“And there was frustration in the Brentford game, not because he wasn’t happy here, just because he couldn’t perform.
“He was in pain. He couldn’t perform to the level he wanted to do for the club.
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“He’s a great kid and he’s an outstanding player, but we have to make sure that we look after him in the right way.”
Rosenior left Palmer out of the squad for the midweek Champions League win over Pafos because of a thigh niggle.
But the Chelsea boss knows how important his No10 is to the Blues’ hopes of success this season.
Rosenior said: “A fully fit Cole, firing, I wouldn’t change him for any player in world football in his position.
I’ve had numerous conversations with Cole and he seems very, very happy to be here.
Liam Rosenior
“My job is to support him. Not just me. The staff, the medical team, the players. To make sure he cannot feel frustrated. It’s good he’s frustrated, because he wants to do well for the club.
“But I don’t want him to feel like he has to push himself to the point of pain, when we’re in January. That’s crazy.
“There’s a number of players in our group that we have to look after in a different way and not just force them out not to perform.
“I’ve got trust in the group. I’ve rotated with the squad and I’ll continue to do that because I want us to be involved at the end of the season in big games and big competitions.”
Palmer will also be fretting about the biggest competition of all – this summer’s World Cup.
The Chelsea star is yet to play for England under Thomas Tuchel because of injury and March’s friendlies will be the last games before Tuchel selects his longlist for the tournament.
Rosenior said: “The reality for Cole is that if he performs at his level, he will be in.
“It’s very simple. If he performs at his natural level, when he is fit, I’ve got no doubts at all that everything he wants in his career will come for him.
“Our job in the short term is to get him into the place where he can go and enjoy himself on the pitch.”
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Meanwhile, Chelsea have been fined £150,000 after a water bottle was thrown from their dugout at Aston Villa players and staff in their December 27 clash.
Both the club and the FA have investigated the incident with neither able to identify who threw the bottle – which passed close to the head of a player on the Villa bench.
The bottle was thrown after two goals from Ollie Watkins secured a comeback for the Villans .
