Former Chelsea player Pat Nevin believes current star Cole Palmer could be as good or better than Kevin De Bruyne.
Palmer has been nothing short of a revelation since his summer move from Manchester City and he has quickly established himself as Chelsea’s go to man.
The 21-year-old moved level with Erling Haaland at the top of the scoring charts thanks to his four goals against Everton on Monday night.
The former City man has been rewarded for his fine form with an England call up, making his debut against Malta at Wembley in November, and is now surely a shoe in for a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the European Championships this summer.
Monday night’s man of the match performance lead to Nevin revealing he believes the versatile forward can be as good as De Bruyne.
“I’m not surprised that Cole Palmer is this good, I’m just surprised he’s this good this quickly,” he told Grosvenor Casinos.
“When he was at Manchester City I covered a few of his first games and I remember I almost shocked myself by saying that this guy could be the next Kevin De Bruyne.
“Just looking at him technically, as a player, he’s got everything.”
Nevin was keen to stress that whilst we don’t know what the future holds for Palmer, he is statistically ahead of the Belgian when their ages are taken into account.
“You have a look back at the likes of Kevin De Bruyne when he was at Cole Palmer’s age, was he as good?” Nevin said. “Was he at the top level in the Premier League scoring 20 goals?
“I’m not saying he’s going to be a better player than Kevin De Bruyne, but he’s got what it takes. He’s absolutely got what it takes to be one of the very best in the business.”
Palmer will be hoping to continue his brilliant form against his former side in Saturday’s FA Cup semi final at Wembley as the Blues look to make their second cup final of the season.
