Cole Palmer has only been in the Chelsea team for little over a year, but he’s been so good in that time that he’s without question gone from being a guy you had vaguely heard of at Man City who couldn’t get a game to a player who is without question going to be in the running for the next Ballon d’Or award after a sensational year of goals and assists for the club.
This guy is special – really special. You don’t have to score this many goals and pick up this many assists to be that good – but Palmer does anyway.
We’ve had players like Gianfranco Zola and Eden Hazard at Chelsea who were icons, rated as world class, and they didn’t have the same numbers that Palmer does. He’s only just getting started, but there’s no telling how far he can go.
Just look at the variety in the highlights from his year at Chelsea so far.
This doesn’t include the hundreds of clever touches, flicks and clever passes we’ve seen in the same period. This is just his ruthlessness in front of goal.
You can see every last one in the clip embedded here:
The missing moments on Palmer’s CV
The numbers are there, the performances are there. So what does Palmer need to do to make sure he really is in the Ballon d’Or conversation? Win something, or at least come close. Playing (or rather, not playing) in the Conference League this year will hurt his chances, but it’s better than nothing, which was what was on offer to him last year.
Enzo Maresca seems keen to get the best out of him, and if he doesn’t slow down, he’ll without question be up there with the likes of Vinicius Jr, when the award comes around.
