PLAYERS’ union leader Maheta Molango has again counselled against cramming the fixture list, saying fans deserve to see stars like Cole Palmer performing at their best.

Molango, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), said he had visited Chelsea’s training ground following their participation at last summer’s Club World Cup and said the players were “shattered.”

That competition was expanded to 32 teams for the first time last summer, with player unions including the PFA and domestic leagues having raised concerns over player welfare and challenging Fifa in the courts over its scheduling, and what they see in general as insufficient consultation by the world governing body over calendar changes.

On a general level, Molango believes all competition organisers need a to have a fundamental rethink about what drives fan interest.

“It’s really important that we that we discover the value of scarcity,” he said at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit.

“The NFL plays 17 games, they make more than £10 billion. Christmas is nice because it’s not every Tuesday.”

Palmer has only played 19 games in all competitions for Chelsea this season and has played just once for England under Thomas Tuchel — against Andorra last June.

Chelsea are seeking to carefully manage his workload, but Molango is worried the calendar’s demands will deny fans the opportunity to see players like him at their very best.

“If he goes to the World Cup, it will be three consecutive summers without a break,” Molango added.

“People say ‘he’s a millionaire’ — yes, he is, but it doesn’t give him an extra lung or an extra leg. I want to see Cole Palmer on the pitch because he’s the one who makes me dream.

“The reality is that the fans pay right now 100 per cent of the ticket, and a lot of time they get 70 per cent, if they are lucky, of the show.

“Players start regulating themselves, and it’s not good. I was at the training camp of Chelsea when they came back (from Club World Cup). They looked shattered. Sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves and see that less is more.”

Players being forced to pick their priorities is also a concern for the Premier League from an economic perspective.

The league’s chief executive Richard Masters said: “It’s a real problem. The players at the top level play an enormous number of football matches, and we cannot rely on them to keep performing at the level we want them to.

“I never want any of our clubs to think that the Premier League isn’t their number one priority because they have too many other matches to distract them.”

Fifa has always insisted it consulted fully with all stakeholders on the current international calendar, which is in place until 2030.