Cole cited PSG and Chelsea's current injury problems, as well as Rodri's ongoing fitness issues and Lamine Yamal's concerns, as examples of players ”
refused for financial reasons.
Barcelona want 'revenge' against Paris Saint-Germain, while Hansi Flick is less than keen on labeling young prodigy Lamine Yamal 'super-super'.
Cole was discussing various current affairs issues with Paddy Power when he was asked whether Chelsea's poor disciplinary record could be attributed to their exploits at this summer's Club World Cup. The former player-turned-pundit didn't make the connection, but he did give an impassioned speech about the modern player's excessive workload. According to him, this degrades the quality of the overall product.
“I think Chelsea's indiscipline was down to bad decisions at times, which can happen. Injuries, on the other hand, yeah, for sure,” Cole said.
“If you look at PSG, I watched their game the other night and they had five or six starters injured against Barcelona. They still won, but Manchester City had injured players, as did Chelsea. So, for sure, for sure. »
“Some fans might hear that, players who play too much, who get injured, and say: 'Yes, but we make a lot of money. » And yes, seen from this angle, players earn a lot of money for playing. But what I mean is that we go to see these Champions League and Premier League matches because we want to see something that we don't see on the pitch at the weekend. We want to see the best players play. When we play players like that, we criticize them, and their level drops, that's normal. » So fans are not getting the best product because the market is saturated.
“Then we lose players, Rodri comes to mind, injured in the knee, absent for a year. Will Rodri ever become the same Rodri again? It's a Ballon d'Or. We don't recruit the best players, we just exploit them, and it's done for financial reasons, nothing else. I think football should be sacred. You don't just have to sell to make money. You have to do it at the right time. Bringing the players together: brilliant matches, great matches, the best should play the best.
“The match against PSG: five players absent, for example against Barcelona. If it's the final and 50% of the best team in the world (PSG) are out due to injuries, there is a direct correlation between overplay and injuries. It’s too simplistic to say: “They’re footballers, they’re paid to play.” The footballers will play, but we want the best. We want to see the best version of Ousmane Dembélé, the best of Lamine Yamal. We don't want to see players playing at 50, 60 or 70%. We want to see them at their best, because we love football. »
Are PSG and Chelsea injuries caused by the Club World Cup?
As Cole mentioned, the European champions were undermanned when they visited Barcelona last week. The Parisians were deprived of their attacking trio of choice: Dembélé, Ballon d'Or, Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were unavailable due to injury. During the warm-up, João Neves was withdrawn, leaving Warren Zaire-Emery to replace him at the last minute. The fact that PSG managed an impressive 2-1 away win in Catalonia despite their injuries is testament to the depth of PSG's squad.
Meanwhile, Chelsea, the club that beat the French giants in the Club World Cup final, have five central defenders currently unavailable and are without their star player Cole Palmer, who is nursing a soft tissue injury. His groin.
The Club World Cup final was played on July 13, exactly one month before the start of PSG's 2025-26 season, which was set to face Tottenham in the UEFA Super Cup. Chelsea's Premier League season began four days later.
Rodri out with hamstring injury
Rodri's ongoing battle for fitness has taken a new turn, with the midfield maestro withdrawing with a torn hamstring during Manchester City's 1-0 win at Brentford on Sunday. The 2024 Ballon d'Or was finally returning to form following surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) suffered during a Premier League match against Arsenal in September 2024. The 29-year-old has been ruled out of the upcoming World Cup qualifying matches.
