Chelsea Receive Marco Palestra Fitness Update As Xabi Alonso Nears Selection Boost

Marco Palestra was not fit for Chelsea's Carabao Cup win over Leeds.

Marco Palestra is getting closer to making his official Chelsea debut after returning to the grass for individual training.

The 21-year-old is one of the few Chelsea summer signings yet to play a competitive match for the club this season, alongside Jordan Henderson and Emmanuel Emegha.

In Palestra’s case, it is because he sustained a knock in training just before the start of the season. It is such a shame, of course, given how important he was to Xabi Alonso’s plans during the pre-season.

The good news is that Palestra, who joined Chelsea from Serie A side Atalanta in a deal worth around £43 million in late June, is reportedly getting closer to a recovery.

According to the Daily Mail, the Italy international has been taking individual training with one of Alonso’s coaches at Cobham. It remains unclear how close the defender is to joining full team training, but it is a welcome development nonetheless.

Palestra is expected to play a big role for Chelsea this season, particularly because he suits the 3-4-2-1 system.

Naturally a right-back, he has the pace and the technical abilities to make a great wing-back. Interestingly, he often played as a left wing-back in pre-season, likely because he is quite comfortable playing with his left despite being primarily right-footed.

Amid Palestra’s injury absence, Alonso has relied on Jorrel Hato and Pep Chavarria for the left wing-back position and Pedro Neto and Malo Gusto on the right.

His return will provide Chelsea with another tactical dimension, especially on the left, since Palestra offers more in attack compared to Hato and Chavarria. On the right, Neto has done really well in this attacking wing-back role.

Alonso recently spoke about Palestra’s injury situation, admitting the frustration over the unfortunate timing.

“He came with huge energy and huge desire to enjoy the Premier League,” the Chelsea manager said about Palestra earlier this week.

However, despite sympathising with Palestra’s eagerness to prove himself in the Premier League, Alonso made it clear that he would not rush the defender’s return and risk another setback after Moises Caicedo’s calf re-injury against Brighton.

"It's not the moment to take too early a risk," he emphasised. "We'll go game by game with them, but it's too early."

This also applies to the other three players on Chelsea’s injury list: Caicedo, Henderson and Emegha.

Caicedo suffered a calf injury setback after making an appearance as a substitute in the 4-3 win over Brighton in late August. Henderson has already trained with the team, but is still waiting for the green light to play after fracturing his forearm during the World Cup. Emegha, on the other hand, seems to still be bothered by the hamstring injury he sustained early in pre-season.