By Pascal Ibe

Introduction

Thomas Tuchel has been rocked by a host of withdrawals from his England squad, with Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tino Livramento all out because of injury.

Guardian reports that Tuchel gave Palmer a high-profile recall on 18 September for the beginning of the two-year international cycle that he hopes will end in glory at Euro 2028. England are back in the top division of the Nations League and they kick off against Spain at Wembley on Saturday. They then play Czechia and Croatia away before returning to Wembley to face Czechia.

Palmer has felt a minor muscle issue and, not for the first time under Tuchel, has been forced to make himself unavailable.

The Chelsea midfielder, who has started the season in fine form, has made only three appearances under Tuchel. He was left out of the World Cup squad after his form ebbed last season and the head coach spoke at his squad announcement of a fresh opportunity for Palmer. 

Claim

A video clip which claims to show Tuchel saying “ he will never call up Palmer in the England team again” after Chelsea’s star’s withdrawal has spread on the X platform.

Some X users posted the short clip of Tuchel speaking at a press conference and claimed he has banned Palmer from the England national team.

An X user, @nextrated1000 posted (archived here) the clip and quoted Tuchel saying, “I will never call Cole Palmer to the national team again. Maybe he can join the national team when I’m gone.”

Verification

First, key frames from the video were subjected to an Image Reverse Search website and the results indicated that the clip was from March 2025 and NOT recent.

The video was from a press conference before a World Cup qualifying game between Latvia and England at Wembley.

As of Tuesday 22 September Tuchel is yet to react to the withdrawal of Palmer and others.

His last press conference was on Friday 18 September.

Watch the press conference here.

Verdict

The claim that Tuchel banned Palmer from the England national team is FALSE, as he has yet to react to the player’s withdrawal from the team.