Enzo Maresca has compared Cole Palmer to club legend Gianfranco Zola and said fans pay to see that kind of player.
The Blues ground out a hard fought 2-1 win to return to winning ways having lost against Liverpool last time out and now sit fifth in the league just one point off third.
Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring before Alexander Isak equalised, but Palmer fired home the winner early in the second half, with the Blues able to dig in and withstand some heavy pressure from the Magpies.
Maresca compares Palmer to Zola
Having had a quiet game against Liverpool, Palmer was back to his best on Sunday and put in a Man of the Match performance.
His pass in the build-up to the opening goal was absolutely sensational as it sliced through the Newcastle defence to pick out Pedro Neto who beat his man and passed the ball to Jackson to apply the finish.
The pass was that good it led to Jamie Carragher describing it as one of the best passes he’s seen in the Premier League.
Palmer now has seven goals and five assists in the first nine games and has every chance of matching or even bettering his feats of last season.
The 22-year-old is arguably the best player in the Premier League right now and one of the best in the world, and after the game Maresca compared him to club legend Zola, who was in attendance at Stamford Bridge.
“I don’t think Cole knows Gianfranco [Zola],” he told reporters as cited on X.com.
“They’re quite similar in terms of quality and seeing things the rest don’t see. The best thing from Cole is that he never changes.
“I had him at (Manchester) City (in the Under-23 team) and he’s exactly the same way. People come to the stadium to see a player like him. They pay to see that kind of player.”
Despite the supporting cast stepping up and contributing it still feels Palmer is very much Chelsea’s main man and they will be looking for him to produce again as the Blues travel to Newcastle on Wednesday evening in the Carabao Cup.
