Palmer wasn’t involved when our new head coach named his first line-up, for Saturday’s 5-1 win over Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup fifth round, as he was one of several players rested at the weekend with a busy period of matches across four competitions to come in January.

Rosenior was keeping his cards close to his chest on whether Cole will be back in the team for tonight’s Carabao Cup clash with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, but was clear in his excitement at the chance to work with our 2023/24 Player of the Season.

‘I think Cole is a special talent, like Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Pedro Neto and Estevao [Willian] are special talents,’ said Rosenior. ‘My job is to get to know him, to connect with him and to understand what gets the best out of him.

‘That takes time. I'm just super excited to work with him. The scary thing with Cole is that he's already got world-class ability, but he's just 23 years old.

‘He's got so much more and there were moments of genius against Fulham; when he stepped over the ball to put Liam [Delap] in on goal, there was also a pass to Pedro (Neto) which was ridiculous. I can't wait to work with him on a regular basis.’

However, as eager as Rosenior is to have Palmer on the pitch, he insisted he won’t be taking any chances with his fitness after our No.10 missed a large portion of the first half of the season due to groin and foot injuries.

That is also the case for any other member of his squad, given the heavy workload the Blues face with six games across the Carabao Cup, Premier League and UEFA Champions League to come before the end of this month.

‘I had a really good in-depth conversation with Cole [on Monday], I've had a good in-depth conversation with the medical team, and we're at a stage of the season where we've got another eight games in four weeks, so it'd be crazy for me to risk any player in this phase of the season.

‘I have real faith in this group and they showed that against Charlton. We made eight changes and we had a good performance. I'll make more changes for Wednesday and I'll make more changes on Saturday.

‘To risk a player's health in January is a crazy thing to do if you have the ambition that you want to be strong at the end of the season.’

The new man in the Chelsea dugout also wasn’t giving anything away about where Palmer might slot into his team when he features, instead highlighting it is as much about finding the right balance with the rest of the side as focusing on the forward’s best position.

‘Good players can play anywhere,’ he continued. ‘I've seen Cole play as a false nine, I've seen him play off the right, I've seen him play off the left, I have seen him play as a 10. He's just a world-class player.

‘My job is not just about him, it's the functionality of the team, where other players fit around him, but I want to give him the licence to go and do what he loves to do, which is create and score goals.

‘I want my players to express themselves. I want them to feel free on the pitch, but if you want to win things, you need 11 players who are willing to do everything with and without the ball. I've said to the players, "You need to be 11 attackers, you need to be 11 defenders".

‘But Cole's shown that without the ball he presses and he works so hard for the team. So I'm just really looking forward to working with him. He's got undoubted potential and ability that is pretty scary.’