Chelsea's Pre-Season Challenges: Palmer and Colwill Miss Juventus Match

Chelsea’s pre-season tour has been relentless. On Wednesday in Hong Kong, it finally caught up with them.

Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill, two pillars of Xabi Alonso’s emerging side, were nowhere to be seen on the team sheet to face Juventus. No drama, no crisis – just the cold verdict of the medical staff after an intensive schedule: minor knocks, unnecessary risk, stay out.

For Palmer, the timing could hardly have been worse. Since arriving at Stamford Bridge he has been Chelsea’s live wire, and this tour had only sharpened that impression. He came off the bench in the 6-4 chaos against Western Sydney Wanderers and still found time to lay on an assist. Then he started against Tottenham in the 2-1 defeat, again looking like the player everything naturally flows through.

Here, he had to settle for a different vantage point. “I’m disappointed not to play due to a slight issue, but I love Hong Kong. Amazing support,” he said pitchside before kick-off, a star attraction reduced to spectator by a twinge the club refuses to gamble on in July.

Colwill, pencilled in as a certain starter at the back, joined him in the stands. That forced Alonso into early-season improvisation.

Alonso reshuffles the deck

With Colwill ruled out, Wesley Fofana and Tosin Adarabioyo stepped into the heart of defence, a pairing that spoke as much about necessity as opportunity. Both need minutes, both need rhythm, and Juventus offered a stern enough examination without tipping over into full-season jeopardy.

Higher up the pitch, the absence of Palmer’s creativity left a noticeable hole. Alonso filled it by nudging Joao Pedro into a central attacking brief, asking him to stitch together the play and occupy spaces Palmer normally owns. That tweak opened the door for Danny Welbeck, one of the more eye-catching summer arrivals, to pull on a Chelsea shirt for the first time.

Welbeck’s debut underlined the broader theme of the night: experiment under pressure. This was not a full-strength Chelsea, but it was not a token second string either.

On the flanks of the defence, Marco Palestra and Jorrel Hato kept their places, two young full-backs trusted again in an environment that demands quick decisions and quicker recovery runs. Alonso clearly wants them to learn on the job, not in the shadows.

The most intriguing selection, though, came in midfield. Moises Caicedo, the £100 million metronome, lined up alongside 16-year-old academy prospect Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, making his first start for the club. One an established Premier League powerhouse, the other barely out of school football, thrown together against one of Europe’s most streetwise midfields.

Pre-season can be bloated and bland. This was not. For Nicoll-Jazuli, it was a night when the academy dream suddenly felt very real.

Mudryk steps back into the light

While Palmer and Colwill watched in training gear, another storyline unfolded quietly on the bench. Mykhailo Mudryk’s name appeared among the substitutes – a simple detail loaded with significance.

The Ukrainian winger had not played for Chelsea since November 2024. His career stalled not by form or injury, but by a provisional suspension tied to a doping dispute that threatened to derail him entirely. Then came the ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, ripping up a four-year ban and clearing him to return.

Alonso did not hide what the moment meant inside the camp. “We trained yesterday. He came directly from the airport to the hotel. So, yesterday was more about the feelings, more about the emotions, to be back with the players to assess the fitness level. But yes, he could play, maybe 90 minutes too early, but he can be selected. He’s selected, so he can play. We are thrilled that Misha could be with us,” the Chelsea head coach said.

That word – “feelings” – told its own story. This was not just a tactical option restored; it was a player pulled back from the brink, reintroduced to a dressing room that had moved on without him.

Yet his return has not ended the noise around his future. Interest in Mudryk has not vanished with the CAS decision. Several Premier League clubs are circling, exploring the possibility of a loan move, and Alonso admitted the club is still weighing up the best route for a £62 million investment that has never fully settled.

A squad in motion

All of this plays out against a familiar modern Chelsea backdrop – a transfer window in constant motion. The club edges towards an 11th summer signing, still buying aggressively while trimming and tweaking a bloated squad, and all of it under the glare of Financial Fair Play calculations and long-term squad planning.

That makes every pre-season minute count. Every minor knock, every selection call, every glimpse of a teenager in the starting XI becomes part of a larger equation.

For Palmer and Colwill, the equation is simple enough: heal now, matter later. Chelsea will not risk them in July if it jeopardises August. The season opener looms, and Alonso wants his key pieces fully fit, not patched up.

Their absence against Juventus underlined how central they already are to the project. Their swift return will say even more about where this Chelsea side is heading.