Cole Palmer may have been snubbed for an England spot at the 2026 World Cup – but he is all smiles during his summer break.The Chelsea star was overlooked by head coach Thomas Tuchel for the summer showpiece in North America.Palmer missed out on a spot in England’s 2026 World Cup squadGettyPalmer was one of a number of high-profile exclusions from the squad.Phil Foden, Jarrod Bowen and Harry Maguire were also among those to miss out on a spot.However, rather than mope around during the off-season, Palmer took to Instagram to show off how his summer was panning out.The post, captioned, ‘Could be worse,’ shows Palmer on holiday, taking part in a photo shoot and relaxing with friends following a testing season. View this post on Instagram The 24-year-old was restricted to just 24 league starts in an injury-hit campaign.Even so, Palmer scored ten league goals for the Blues, though he found the back of the net just once from his last eight outings of the season.Chelsea, meanwhile, endured a sub-par term as they laboured to a tenth-placed finish.A dire end to the campaign saw the west London side miss out on a European finish following a 2-1 loss at Sunderland on the final day of the Premier League season.However, despite a disappointing 2025/26 season, Chelsea were able to convince Xabi Alonso to take over at Stamford Bridge.The Spaniard was relieved of his duties as Real Madrid head coach back in January.Alonso will take over as Chelsea boss next monthGettyAnd despite offers to return to the game shortly after leaving the La Liga giants, Alonso held out until the summer to return to management.Alonso will take charge of Chelsea when his contract begins on July 1, and already has to contend with the departure of Marc Cucurella.The Spain international departed for Real Madrid on Monday and will officially link up with his new side following the 2026 World Cup.Cucurella is Spain’s first-choice left-back in North America and played the full 90 minutes as La Roja were held to a 0-0 draw with tournament debutants Cape Verde.The 27-year-old is expected to retain his starting spot as the Euro 2024 champions look to immediately respond from the stalemate when they face Saudi Arabia at the weekend.