Yayin da Thomas Tuchel ke shirya sanar da jerin 'yan wasan England a ranar Juma'a, tambaya guda ɗaya ta fi dukan sauran ƙarfi: shin Cole Palmer zai kasance a cikinta?

Dan wasan Chelsea mai shekara 24 ya kasance ɗaya daga cikin mafi kyawun 'yan wasa a Stamford Bridge a wannan kakar, inda ya zura kwallo 5 ya kuma ba da taimako 3 a wasan 11 a dukkan gasar. Duk da haka, alaƙarsa da tawagar ƙasa ta sami matsaloli tun lokacin da Tuchel ya karɓi mulki a farkon 2025, kuma daraktan England bai boye haushi nasa ba.

«Yana rasa damar yawa sosai wajen buga ƙwallon ƙafa don England,» Tuchel ya faɗi — wata kimanta ta sarari da ta bi Palmer a tsawon watanni 18 masu wahala na rauni, ficewar kira, da rashin daidaito a matakin ƙasa da ƙasa.

Hujjojin da ke goyon bayan zaɓar Palmer

Bayanan Palmer a wannan kakar sun zama hujja mai ƙarfi don zaɓarsa. Daga cikin 'yan wasan da ke fafatawa don matsayin lamba 10 na England, kawai abokin wasansa na Chelsea Morgan Rogers ne ya fi shi samun ƙarin hannu a kwallaye tun farkon kakar.

Duk da haka, waɗannan ƙididdiga suna buƙatar bayani mai zurfi. Idan an cire bugun ƙwallo na fanaiti, dukkan abokan hamayyarsa sun fi shi kwallaye a wannan matsayi tun farkon kakar da ta gabata. Jude Bellingham na Real Madrid da Rogers suma sun fi shi a kwallaye daga cikin wasan a wannan kakar.

Phil Foden na Manchester City, wani ɗan wasa da aka bar a wajen jerin Kofin Duniya na England, ya daidaita Palmer da hannu 8 a wannan kakar — amma rabin na Foden sun zo da AEK Athens a UEFA Champions League. Morgan Gibbs-White na Nottingham Forest, wanda ya maye gurbin Palmer a jerin Tuchel na kwanan nan, yana ƙirƙirar damar da wannan ƙimar (2.6 a kowace wasa) kuma ya fi Palmer kwallaye tun farkon kakar 2025-26.

Eberechi Eze na Arsenal, wanda aka fi son Palmer don Kofin Duniya tare da Bellingham da Rogers, shine mai ba da gudummawa na uku a tsakanin zaɓuɓɓukan Tuchel — da kwallaye 3 da taimako ɗaya a ƙarƙashin mulkinsa. Palmer, Foden, da Gibbs-White dukkansu suna neman wannan matsayi a sanarwar Juma'a.

Tafiya mai cike da rikici a matakin ƙasa da ƙasa

Palmer ya rasa sansanin farko na Tuchel a watan Maris 2025 saboda rauni a hamstring, sannan ya buga mintuna 90 don Chelsea kwanaki kaɗan bayan haka — jerin abubuwa da bai taimaka rage damuwa ba. Ya shiga wasan Yuni, ya buga a nasarar 1-0 a filin Andorra kafin ya kasance a kan benci a matsayin ɗan wasa da ba a yi amfani da shi ba a rashin nasara ta abokantaka da Senegal.

Matsalar da ke dawowa a cinyarsa ta tura shi barin aikin ƙasa da ƙasa a lokacin hutu na Satumba, Oktoba, da Nuwamba, hakan ya rage bayyanarsa a ƙungiyar sa sosai. Bayyanarsa ta ƙarshe ta England ta kasance a watan Maris, lokacin da ya shigo a matsayin ɗan wasa na 56th minutin daidaita 1-1 da Uruguay kafin ya fara — ya kuma kwashe minti 59 kawai — a rashin nasara 1-0 da Japan.

Palmer ya janye daga hutu na ƙasa da ƙasa na kwanan nan, inda ya ambaci «rashin jin daɗi da zafi» daga buga wasa yana ɗauke da rauni a matakin ƙungiyarsa. Daraktan Chelsea Xabi Alonso daga baya ya tabbatar da cewa ɗan wasansa na «fama» kafin hutu, bayan rashin nasara 3-0 da Brentford.

Murmushi da dawowar wasansa

A lokacin hutun kwanaki tara ga 'yan wasan Chelsea da ba a kira su, Palmer ya yi tafiya ƙasashen waje, yana tare da mai horas da murmushi, yana kuma bin tsarin horar da musamman don rauni nasa. Da ya dawo, ya rattaba hannu kan sabon kwantiragin Stamford Bridge har zuwa 2034.

Sannan ya ba da taimako a cikin mintuna 88 a nasara ta 5-1 akan Bournemouth, ya kuma fara dukkan wasannin Chelsea na gaba — sai dai rashin nasara ta harbin fanaiti na EFL Cup da Liverpool, wanda hutun hukunci ya hana shi shiga bayan ya sami katin rawaya guda biyu cikin mintuna tara a rashin nasara na league a gida da Tottenham.

Bayyanarsa ta kwanan nan, nasara ta 2-0 ta Premier League akan Manchester United a Asabar, ta ɗaga jimlarsa na kakar zuwa kwallaye 5 da taimako 3. Alonso ya ci gaba da goyon bayansa: «Yana da sadaukarwa amma yana buƙatar zama cikakke lafiyayye don buga wasa — kuma idan ya zama cikakke lafiyayye zai ji daɗin minutiminsa. Muna buƙatarsa a wannan lokacin, ƙungiyar da tawagar ƙasa.»

Bellingham, a nasa ɓangaren, an sa masa suna dan wasan shekara na England na 2026 bayan Kofin Duniya mai ban sha'awa — kwallaye 7 da taimako ɗaya — yayin da England ta sami lambar tagulla bayan rashin nasara a wasan dafa uku da Argentina. Yana kan gaba a dukkan zaɓuɓɓukan Tuchel da kwallaye 8 da taimako 6 tun nadin daraktan.

Ko bayyanar Palmer na kwanan nan ta isa ta shawo kan shakku na Tuchel da aka sani sosai zai bayyana a safiyar Juma'a.