Cole Palmer has been the star man at Chelsea since joining the club from Manchester City in the 2023/24 summer transfer window. The 22-year-old has made 73 appearances since joining the London club, scoring 39 goals, providing 21 assists and totalling 5,949 minutes played.
Under both Mauricio Pochettino and now Enzo Maresca, Palmer has been used in multiple different ways, playing as a right-winger, a central attacking midfielder and even a false nine.
In just 18 months, the England international has gone from an €18m (£14.9m) valued academy prospect, to a €130m (£108.1m) valued superstar, according to Transfermarkt, seen as one of the best players in the world.
Cole Palmer's record at Chelsea
When Palmer first broke through at Chelsea, Pochettino was using him as a right-winger, drifting inside to occupy the right half space, with Malo Gusto often overlapping to provide width, forming a good connection between the two.
However, under Pochettino, Chelsea were often given much more space on the ball, engaging in more chaotic game states, often leading to very open games, such as their 4-4 draw with Manchester City.
Under Maresca, teams have decided to often double up on Palmer, man-marking him and leaving him with less space to operate. Teams with more than one primary attacking threat are harder to double up on, as it will often leave a spare man elsewhere.
And Chelsea already had a “generational” star – as hailed by talent scout Jacek Kulig – on trial at the club in the past, who could have been the perfect partner for Palmer, making the Englishman tougher to stop.
Kylian Mbappe's trial at Chelsea
Kylian Mbappé revealed he once had a trial at Chelsea when he was 10 or 11 years old, spending just under a week in London, training with the Blues and playing in one game against Charlton Athletic:
“I was still young back then, maybe 10 or 11. I went to London and spent just under a week over there. I trained at Chelsea and we played a friendly match against Charlton Athletic.
“We won 6-0 or 7-0. I played upfront, but I don’t think I scored. It was great – it was my first experience abroad and a chance for me to see what the game was like in England.”
Chelsea clearly didn’t go on to sign the young Frenchman at the time, who now plays for Real Madrid, and is valued at around €160m (£133m) according to Transfermarkt – thus placing him even ahead of Palmer.
Stats (per 90 mins)
Mbappé
Palmer
Goals
0.70
0.52
Assists
0.09
0.22
xG
0.81
0.51
xAG
0.17
0.34
Progressive Carries
4.70
3.37
Progressive Passes
3.97
6.01
Shots Total
4.55
3.36
Key Passes
1.32
2.63
Shot-Creating Actions
3.66
5.68
Successful Take-Ons
2.40
1.32
Palmer and Mbappe, whilst both being two of the very best players in the world, have very different styles of play, with the former thriving more in deeper zones, using his creative passing quality before arriving in the box, whilst the latter has blistering pace, can stretch opposition defences and carry the ball at speed, beating his man in 1v1 situations with ease.
The Real Madrid star struggled at first, being deployed as an auxiliary striker, with Vinicius Junior playing in his favoured left-wing role, but as time has gone on, the Frenchman has settled and connected well with his teammates, getting the best out of everyone, making 36 appearances, scoring 24 goals and providing three assists.
You can never say Mbappé would have become the same player had he joined Chelsea aged 10 or 11, but the prospect of Palmer and Mbappé playing together is a mouth-watering one, as the duo would compliment one another perfectly.
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