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Chelsea winger Cole Palmer has delivered a blunt response to his Ballon d'Or ranking after he finished higher than Harry Kane. The English sensation was nominated for the prestigious award and finished eighth, making him the top-ranked Englishman in contention.

England skipper Kane came in at 13th, whilst Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham landed at 23rd. Arsenal ace Declan Rice found himself slightly lower down at 27th.

But following the ceremony in Paris, Palmer had a fascinating reaction to his position in the rankings. He shared the voting results on his Instagram story accompanied by a stack of bricks emoji.

READ MORE: Cole Palmer walks straight down tunnel after being taken off just 20 minutes into Man Utd clash

READ MORE: Chelsea injury news and return dates after Man Utd loss as Cole Palmer latest revealed

Palmer's placement follows an outstanding campaign for the 23-year-old at Stamford Bridge. He netted 18 goals and contributed 14 assists across all competitions last term as the Blues claimed the Europa Conference League, the Club World Cup and clinched a Premier League top-four spot.

Palmer has also begun the new campaign in excellent fashion with two strikes in his first four appearances across all competitions. And whilst he'll be eager to maintain his impressive displays, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has cautioned that the attacker is managing a fitness concern ahead of Tuesday's Carabao Cup encounter with Lincoln City.

Speaking before that fixture, the Italian boss revealed: "Cole is probably the only one that we need to assess a little bit. The rest are okay, just recovering from last week.

"He did already a huge effort last Saturday to try and play the game. He tried Saturday morning, he was not 100 per cent but he wants to be there to help teammates in that kind of game.

"It was painful so we decided to change. We await day-by-day to see how he is and then decide what we do."

Regarding the prospect of Palmer requiring surgery, the Italian revealed: "The medical staff didn't mention to me about surgery until today. I don't know if it will be in the next weeks, but I don't think so to be honest."

After Tuesday's encounter with the Imps, Chelsea will shift their focus back to the Premier League with Brighton heading to Stamford Bridge.

They then stay at home for their second Champions League fixture of the campaign against Benfica in midweek. That match will witness former manager Jose Mourinho's return to west London, having been named by the Portuguese side earlier this month after his departure from previous club Fenerbahce.

Chelsea, much like Palmer, have made an encouraging start to the new campaign. They had been unbeaten in the Premier League before falling to the 2-1 defeat at Manchester United last weekend.

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