Chelsea boss, Enzo Maresca, spoke last week ahead of Chelsea's trip to Azerbaijan in the Champions League, saying he was hopeful the England star would be fit enough to feature against Barcelona this month in what is a huge test for the Club World Cup champions.
"We hope so (he will be available vs Barca), but with Cole we try to plan, we try to schedule, you know, at the beginning. Then we need to review that.
"So in this moment we go day by day with Cole. He's not taking any session with the team. And we have Benoit Badiashile that probably can be available after the international break and that is huge news for us.
Palmer is close to making a return to team training, but Chelsea don’t want to rush him back, according to reports, as it may risk further injury which would set the winger back even further.
According to the Mail Online, the England international would love to play in that game against Barcelona and he sees it as a target to meet to ensure that he can finally return to the pitch.
The 23-year-old has not played since the defeat to Manchester United on September 20th and has started only two Premier League matches this term under Maresca, who will be keen to get him back to full fitness before the Christmas break.
Discussing the details of the injury, Maresca revealed to football.london that the club are managing him carefully behind the scenes:
"We need to protect Cole for sure, 100%. Not only Cole, in my personal view, because, as I said now, because of the Club World Cup or because we never stop.
"The solution for Cole, I do not know. Now we have a meeting with the medical staff, and we decide the best solution for him. But it's also a kind of injury that is not black and white. It's not an injury that someday you can be better. It's not that you are playing and tomorrow you disappear. Sometimes you can be better, sometimes you can be worse. That's why we need to manage day by day."