Theo Walcott has defended Cole Palmer's decision to withdraw from the England squad but admitted it is "disappointing" to not see him involved.
The Chelsea man was left out of Thomas Tuchel's 26-man squad for the World Cup but was called on for England's Nations League games during the international break.
However, he later withdrew from the squad with a minor muscular injury alongside Declan Rice and Marcus Rashford.
"There must be something not right with Cole Palmer," the former Arsenal forward told ESPN.
"To play for your country is really important and Cole wouldn't pull out for no reason. So, he obviously has a legitimate reason to pull out.
"It's disappointing because there's an opportunity there for him to obviously play. And it's an easy option now for Tuchel when it comes to England call-ups, so I'm not going to call him out again on it. So, it's a tricky place for him."
Walcott added: "I think he wants to protect himself ... I don't mind players speaking up themselves instead of holding it in because sometimes players, they don't want to show their characters and I think Cole Palmer is ... You can see he's very different."
Palmer struggled with a groin issue throughout the 2025-26 season but returned to start this campaign in fine form, scoring four goals and providing two assists in seven appearances so far.
Walcott added that Bukayo Saka's playing time over the past few seasons could be a possible factor to explain why Palmer decided to remove himself from the squad.
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"Cole Palmer has played a lot of football and I get it," he said.
"He's had a couple of summers now playing and what worries me as well is I'm looking on the outside, I look at Bukayo Saka at the moment and he's played a lot for his age as well and I just don't see the dynamic and the same player I've seen for recent years.
"I'm not saying Cole Palmer's going to be like that, but he's obviously looking after himself because he wants a bit of longevity going into it."
