Palmer set to be part of England's Euro squad but where does he fit in the XI?
Cole Palmer can expect to be included in England’s squad for Euro 2024 if he's fit, but how can Gareth Southgate get him in the starting XI?
The Chelsea forward joined Erling Haaland at the top of the Premier League scoring charts with four goals against Everton on Monday night, which has increased the clamour for Southgate to find a key role for him in Germany this summer.
However, whether Palmer will make England's starting XI remains to be seen.
There is no doubt that Southgate is a big admirer of the 21-year-old. Having called him up to the senior squad for the first time in November, he gave him his England debut against Malta and used him as a substitute days later against North Macedonia.
Palmer, though, has yet to start a full international and, despite a host of injury problems elsewhere, he played no minutes in last month's two friendlies at Wembley.
Southgate revealed that a minor injury had prevented Palmer from training, which meant he wasn't able to feature against Brazil and that he would have only been able to play for a short period against Belgium.
Sky Sports News has since discovered that the England manager and Palmer had a conversation about whether it would be best for him to return to Chelsea for treatment but both agreed it was a good idea for the winger to stay with the squad, to help build rapport and familiarity with future England opportunities in mind.
The fact that Palmer wanted to stay with the England squad, even though he wasn't fully fit, impressed Southgate.
Nevertheless, Palmer's path to the England first team is anything but straightforward. Without a doubt, he is playing in the most competitive area of the squad and Southgate would have to either drop another in-form star to make space for
Read on m.allfootballapp.com
