Since swapping east Manchester for west London last summer, nobody would have foreseen Cole Palmer hitting such ridiculous heights. Not Pep Guardiola, not Todd Boehly, possibly not even Palmer himself.
In his first season at Stamford Bridge, Palmer scored 27 goals in all competitions and notched 15 assists, resulting in him winning the PFA Young Player of the Year. He’s now added an England Player of the Year to a groaning mantelpiece.
Palmer is undoubtedly the star attraction in a Chelsea team which has an average age of just 23, a squad which we should probably call a roster considering the number of players that Enzo Maresca has at his disposal. Palmer is Maresca’s trusted man despite having Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, Christopher Nkunku and Jadon Sancho. The list could go on. Maresca absolutely knows what he has with Palmer and it’s not to be tampered with.
It never appeared to be the plan to make Palmer the face of Boehly’s rebuild of the club; the 22-year-old has almost fallen into the role. But would things have worked out the same had he stayed at Manchester City?
We’re all aware that Pep Guardiola has a knack for spending large sums of money on top-quality players, but something that has gone somewhat under the radar is his commitment to integrating youth-team players.
The most obvious example has been Phil Foden, who won the PFA Player of the Year last season, playing a stand-out role in City’s fourth consecutive Premier League title win. And yet he will never be City’s star man. Not while Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne are still breathing and wearing blue.
Rico Lewis has also been integrated into the team, but the inclusion of two players must not create a narrative of revisionism around Palmer and whether things would have worked out differently for him had he stayed at City.
If anything, Foden has seen his minutes limited so far this season, and although he is still only 24, it’s impossible to imagine him being able to play the same role as Palmer at Chelsea. There’s a difference in the size of the fish and the pond.
As did many other players, Foden struggled in Gareth Southgate’s static system during the Euros, though Palmer had no problems getting to grips in his substitute appearances. The fact that he has been voted England Player of the Year despite not starting at the Euros tells you everything about his standing among England fans.
READ: England: Palmer fourth in ranking of potential Kane replacements to solve 2026 World Cup conundrum
Chelsea’s belief has been England’s gain. The truth is that Palmer would never have been given such opportunities at City. Take James McAtee for example; a 30-minute cameo against Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League isn’t fooling us. We’re almost certain Palmer would be sat on the bench while Guardiola favours £55m man Jeremy Doku in rotation with £30m flavour of the month Savinho.
After becoming the first player to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League game last month, Maresca was asked whether he was aware of Palmer’s talents having worked with him in his time at City, and he said: “You’d have to be blind if you didn’t see it with Cole.”
We’re sure that Guardiola did see it with Cole, but the City boss notoriously allows players to leave if they want to leave. And realistically, Guardiola was always going to see Palmer as a rotation option. Never as the fulcrum. That’s the difference between Chelsea and Manchester City. For all Palmer’s goals last season, they still finished 28 points behind City.
“I said many times, I didn’t give him the minutes that he maybe deserved and wanted, the minutes he now has at Chelsea,” says Guardiola, who has consistently denied having any regrets. He’s won six of the last seven Premier League titles so regrets are in short supply.
Under Maresca, Palmer has been given the license to roam, tweaking his position after Pochettino utilised him largely as a touchline winger, though Palmer used his own initiative to float around the pitch in such a chaotic set-up. He is the sort of player who looks for the ball and usually finds it.
It now seems remarkable that such a confident and innovative player did not start a single game at the Euros, even while Jude Bellingham toiled in the no 10 position and Foden felt constrained on the left. Finding a solution is what will make the next England manager successful and potentially turn the bridesmaids into brides.
Whatever happens now, Palmer will be front and central. He demands nothing less.
