You don’t have to do much convincing of Chelsea fans that Cole Palmer is the real deal – they’ve seen it all season.
He looks especially good in a team where so many others have struggled. In terms of senior games started, he was even less experienced than some of the teenagers we bought in the last year. But he took to the Premier League like a duck to water, and has been perhaps our most important player all season.
Fans of other teams are starting to notice that too, and so are other players. Fulham captain Tom Cairney had some really interesting quotes about the attacking midfielder:
“I think he is elite. I think his football brain is top. The only thing you could say is that he hasn’t got the electric pace,” Cairney said in quotes picked up by HITC.
“But, apart from that, he is a top, top footballer. I was very surprised Pep let him go, with the history of footballers he has had in the past and he loves.
“He can score goals and make goals. I think he is a clever footballer in build-up play. He arrives in the box late. He is intelligent and very young, so he is only going to get better and better.
“Chelsea have got a gem here. He has been Chelsea’s best player by a mile.”
It’s interesting to hear him note Palmer’s weakness too. He certainly doesn’t have the speed of a proper winger, but he’s still played his best football for us coming in from out wide. And when you’ve got passing and shooting technique like he does, who needs pace?
