Chelsea news: Xabi Alonso reacts to Cole Palmer's England squad omission, Thomas Tuchel comments

Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has suggested that he has little interest in Cole Palmer's ongoing situation with England.

With five goals and three assists from 11 appearances in 2026-27, the 24-year-old can be relatively pleased with his start to the season.

However, after withdrawing from England's squad for their September and October fixtures due to either a minor injury or to manage his workload, the playmaker is in the bad books of Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel.

After leaving Palmer out of his latest squad on Friday, the German reiterated that the player is paying the price for 'missed opportunities' to impress.

Despite the perceived disappointment of one of his key players, Alonso hinted at a press conference on Friday that he does not get himself involved with national team matters.

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Chelsea boss Alonso reacts to Palmer England woes

He told reporters: "No. We have not spoken about that. We have been talking about our game on Sunday."

When pushed on whether there are any regrets from Palmer over withdrawing from the last squad, the Spaniard added: "We haven't spoken about that.

"We are focussed on our things, on Chelsea things and how to do better and how to help him and how he can become more and more influential on the game. Those are our topics to talk."

Having continued to be pressed on the subject, Alonso reiterated: "We speak about Chelsea. We have enough on our plate. My impact area is my control area and what we talk about."

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Is Alonso sending the right message over Palmer?

The assumption is that Palmer will feel disappointed having missed out on another opportunity to represent England.

Despite the mixed reports that came out about the reasoning being his withdrawal last time, Tuchel has clearly been left unimpressed.

To many, it will feel unusual that Alonso has not spoken to Palmer about matters relating to England.

Even if he challenged Palmer to use it as motivation when with Chelsea, Alonso being dismissive about the subject comes across as a surprise.