Chelsea Confidential: Tyrique George's crunch talks over his future, latest on Cole Palmer's return date after training-ground clue, the Enzo Maresca to Juventus rumours and major boost for Barcelona clash

Chelsea will speak with Tyrique George closer to January to decide his immediate future, with the 19-year-old academy graduate set to have a big say in whether he stays or goes.

George nearly left in the summer, only for his £22million deadline-day transfer to Fulham to break down in the final few minutes. The Cottagers’ sudden decision to pull out of that proposed move, having submitted a deal sheet to secure extra time, came as a surprise.

Confidential has learned that Joe Shields, Chelsea’s co-director of recruitment and talent, phoned George on behalf of the Blues’ leadership team to explain that he would be welcomed back with open arms and continue working with Enzo Maresca’s first-team squad.

Since then, George has started and scored in the Champions League and the Carabao Cup, and appeared four times in the Premier League as a substitute. He also grabbed his first goal for England’s Under 21s this month, when he was set up by his Chelsea team-mate Jamie Gittens.

Chelsea don't intend to try and force George to leave this January, either permanently or on loan, but will hold talks with the teenager and his camp to see what is best for everyone.

Maresca has preferred using George as a striker rather than a winger and with Liam Delap returning from his hamstring injury, the teenager's playing time will likely be reduced. The Blues boss has told us previously that George could do with playing regular football to further his progress.

Is Palmer really back? 

Confidential can confirm that Cole Palmer is not yet back in training for Chelsea, despite a fair few fans getting their hopes up after pictures emerged of the England star wearing his kit at Cobham.

Before a training session this week, the Blues staged a special ceremony as Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah were each gifted a framed ‘100’ shirt, marking their century of appearances for the club. It was a nice gesture, with the mementos presented by Maresca and co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.

The fact that Palmer was wearing his training top excited supporters on social media as he posed for pictures with his gift in front of him.

However, what you did not see behind the framed shirt was that he was wearing sliders, while Fernandez, Cucurella, Caicedo and Chalobah were in their boots, prepped for practice ahead of facing Wolves in Wednesday's Carabao Cup fourth round.

Confidential has been told Palmer was in his training gear as he continues his rehab on a groin issue inside Chelsea's Cobham HQ.

There is no date set in stone for Palmer’s return and Chelsea will be wary of rushing back their playmaker at the risk of doing further damage.

The latest estimate provided by Maresca suggested the end of November could be a possibility, with home games against Barcelona on the 25th and Arsenal five days later. In the mean time, Chelsea travel to Tottenham on Sunday, deepest Kazakhstan to play Qarabag next week, then have Wolves at home and Burnley away to navigate.

Maresca to Juventus? Not happening

Chelsea have received no approach from Juventus despite previous reports in Italy suggesting Maresca was a candidate after the sacking of Igor Tudor as head coach on Monday.

Nor would the Blues have welcomed one as they have no interest in a mid-season managerial change, feeling such a significant shift does more bad than good.

Luciano Spalletti is expected to become the new Juve boss instead.

As reported in last week’s Confidential, Maresca is now represented by the Jorge Mendes stable Gestifute after leaving his previous agency Wasserman. He is contracted to Chelsea until 2029 with the club holding the option to extend the deal to 2030.

Tosin criticism overly harsh

There has been a harsh backlash to Tosin Adarabioyo over the last few days, including the digging up of some old tweets where he was complimentary to rival clubs, as if it matters that he suggested Jack Wilshere’s goal for Arsenal against Norwich on October 19, 2013 was ‘lovely’.

Adarabioyo did not cover himself in glory with his defending for Sunderland’s late winner on Saturday, but then neither did Chalobah, who hardly made himself useful by standing still, and nor did midfielders Caicedo or Andrey Santos as they failed to show any desire in sprinting back.

It was a bad goal to concede from the perspective of several Chelsea players, not just Adarabioyo, who is considered an important member of the squad as one of their more vocal leaders.

Mr Serena's reason for buying into Chelsea… with a joke thrown in

Alexis Ohanian has explained why he bought 10 per cent of Chelsea Women in a Front Office Sports podcast appearance this week, including a little joke at the expense of one former player.

It was an interesting listen with the Reddit founder - and husband of Serena Williams - explaining how, in the United States, they do not take notice of their men’s side. They are much more interested in the women thanks to how successful they are.

‘If you ask the average American sports fan, “Hey, think of American soccer excellence”, they’re only thinking of women,' said 42-year-old New Yorker Ohanian. 'Maybe Mia Hamm, Alex Morgan, et cetera. They can’t think of any men - sorry, Christian (Pulisic).

‘The US men have never done anything impressive in soccer, and it's no disrespect to them, it's just that the rest of the world is really, really good, but the women are dominant. Marketing excellence, telling the story around excellence, is much easier than mediocrity.’

Ohanian went on to say how he noticed a culture shift in England after our Lionesses won the Euros in 2022, and that contributed to him investing in Chelsea shortly before Sarina Wiegman's side repeated the feat this summer.

‘There’s an aura of English football that’s tremendous,’ he said. 'Most of us here in America who want to watch the best men’s football wake up at weird hours to watch Premier League football.

‘The English game has this aura of excellence on the men’s side. But in the last few years, you have England women winning back-to-back Euros. Now, you have a bunch of English kids going to school feeling proud to be English because their women brought home the trophy.

'You do it once, that's a big deal. Twice back-to-back? That for me was like obvious, OK, this was the tipping point. Now you’re shifting the culture to say, “OK, I’m not going to default compare this English women’s footballer to a guy – I’m going to evaluate it as its own sport”. You really start seeing that shift.

‘You look at a club like Chelsea that has tremendous pedigree, an amazing trophy case, and it’s a chance to invest on the ground floor of an advanced elite programme and brand.

'The women’s club got spun off and that’s super smart and that’s what the best clubs are doing. Normally the women’s club sits with the boys, underneath the men, in the structure. Spin it out. Reevaluate this entire organisation as a women's club – not as a sub-brand of the men’s club.’

Barca boost for Chelsea

Barcelona midfielder Pedri has suffered a muscle injury, with early reports suggesting he may miss between four and five weeks.

Chelsea will monitor the latest on his health from afar, given his absence would be a boost for them before that Champions League showdown on November 25.

Mudryk muddle cleared up 

No, the masked-up player in Baller League - a six-a-side league screened by Sky Sports - being billed as an apparently active professional in the Premier League was not Mykhailo Mudryk.