The 2023/24 season has been another tough one for Chelsea fans.
Mauricio Pochettino's young team are sitting in 11th place in the Premier League and are unlikely to qualify for European football unless they can lift the FA Cup at the end of the campaign.
However, there have been some bright spots here and there. Notably, the performances of Cole Palmer, so fans should be excited that the latest player the club are targeting has been compared to the Englishman.
Chelsea's latest transfer news
According to a report from Steve Kay of Football Transfers, the Blues are ready to move on Conor Gallagher in the summer and have already identified the perfect player to replace him, Dani Olmo.
The report has revealed that the Pensioners have made the Spaniard one of their primary targets for the summer transfer window and have already initiated discussions with RB Leipzig about his departure.
Leipzig signed the La Masia graduate in the summer of 2020 for around €34m, or about £29m, and while no fee has been reported for the potential deal with Chelsea, the CIES Football Observatory has valued him at around €40m, which comes to around £34m.
That might not be a bargain, but based on his performances over the last few years, it would undoubtedly represent fair value and, with favourable comparisons to Palmer, should leave fans excited.
How Dani Olmo compares to Cole Palmer
So, where does this comparison come from, then? Well, it stems from FBref, which compares players in similar positions across Europe's top five leagues and creates a list of ten other players who share the most similar characteristics and statistics.
In the case of Olmo, Palmer – who boasts 26 goals and assists for the Blues so far – is the fourth most similar player to him, with the likes of Xavi Simons, Michael Olise, and Isco also making it into the top ten, which can only be encouraging.
1
Stephan El Shaarawy
AS Roma
2
Xavi Simons
RB Leipzig (loan)
3
Vincenzo Grifo
Freiburg
4
Cole Palmer
Chelsea
5
Dominic Berardi
Sassuolo
6
Alexis Saelemaekers
Bologna
7
Andrea Colpani
Monza
8
Michael Olise
Crystal Palace
9
Isco
Real Betis
10
Marcus Tavernier
Bournemouth
In terms of specifics, while the Spaniard scores 0.29 non-penalty goals per 90, the Englishman scores 0.31, where the 25-year-old provides 0.38 assists per 90, the 21-year-old provides 0.41, and where the Chelsea ace produces 0.59 non-penalty expected goals per 90, the Leipzig star produces 0.50.
In short, the pair produces a lot of similar underlying numbers, but the "incredible" Terrassa-born dynamo, as described by Pep Guardiola, can also back it up on the pitch.
In 19 appearances this season, he has scored seven goals and provided four assists, meaning he's averaging a goal involvement every 1.72 games. Had he not been beset by a number of injuries, those figures may have been even more impressive.
Ultimately, while he might not be a player who is particularly familiar to Premier League fans, Olmo is a special player who would undoubtedly wow fans on a weekly basis at Stamford Bridge.
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ByJack Salveson HolmesMar 26, 2024
So, if Chelsea can get this deal done, they absolutely should, especially if CIES' valuation is accurate.
