Cole Palmer has been ranked as Europe’s second-best playmaker by football boffins in another endorsement of the Englishman’s phenomenal talent.
The Chelsea star has notched 19 assists since joining the Blues last summer and is developing a lethal partnership with Nicolas Jackson this season.
Brainiacs at the CIES Football Observatory have painstakingly made a chance creation index, which combines assists, passes leading to a clear opportunity, and other factors to determine the best playmakers.
Palmer scores 94.3 on the index and he is beaten only by Paris Saint-Germain‘s Joao Neves, 20, the former Benfica youngster who had a host of top clubs chasing him this summer. Given his score of 99.4, is to Arsenal’s credit that they limited his influence in Tuesday night’s 2-0 Champions League win.
Mohamed Salah is the only other Premier League star to creep into the top 10, coming in ninth with a score of 87.1 and making the case for a bumper contract at Liverpool despite being 32 years of age. He’s already on four assists for the season.
Cole Palmer has been ranked as the second-best playmaker in Europe by football boffins
PSG and Portugal star Joao Neves outstrips the competition with a score of 99.4
Mohamed Salah has earned the second-best score in the Premier League, ninth in Europe
Arsenal‘s Bukayo Saka and Dwight McNeil of Everton round off the top 15 European creators, registering scores of 85.3 and 85.1.
Tottenham pair James Maddison and Heung Min-son and, perhaps to some surprise, Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo are not far behind.
Lamine Yamal has been all the rage since his breathtaking performances in Spain’s victorious Euro 2024 campaign and he ranks fourth despite being just 17 years old.
Lesser-heralded name Romano Schmid from Werder Bremen sneaks into the top three while Villarreal’s talented winger Alex Baena comes in fifth. Intriguingly, Werder Bremen are the only club with two players in the top 10 – their Mitchell Weiser also breaks in.
This latest triumph for Palmer, streaks ahead of his Premier League rivals in the index, gives backing to his manager Enzo Maresca’s claim that he is the ‘best player’ in the Premier League after he thumped four goals past Brighton at the weekend.
‘Goals, assists, best player of the Premier League, this doesn’t change the way he is. He’s a simple guy, a humble guy and this is, for me, the most important thing,’ said Maresca.
‘Today in football, young players, they change very quick. They score one goal and they think they are already… you know.
‘Cole, he’s scored many goals, many assists, he’s a top player but he never changes and this is the most important thing.’
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On a technicality, Palmer actually has the third-best score in Europe as a whole.
The research hands a score of 94.4 to Inigo Vicente of Racing Santander, but he plays in Spain’s second division.
There’s also another behemoth of world football who gets the better of Palmer out of 65 ranked leagues: Lionel Messi.
The Inter Miami star has not lost his shine according to the research, scoring a whopping 98.2 to make him the second-best creator in the world, with Palmer sitting fourth behind Neves, him, and Vicente.
