Cole Palmer favourite to win Prem Player of the Season

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Cole Palmer’s rise at Chelsea this season has seen the former Manchester City title-winner become one of, if not the best player in the Premier League.  Palmers £42.5m move to Chelsea appears to be the only signing in Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbahli’s £1 billion spending spree that has paid any dividends.

The 21 year-old has been one of the best performers in the Premier League this season and undoubtedly been the only positive from a disastrous Chelsea campaign.

Palmer’s ability on the ball is sensational, he is a competent creator and finisher who is confident to play centrally as a number 10 and on the right-wing.  He has been played in both of those positions this season and has consistently threatened from both areas despite their different requirements.

He joined city as an U8 and during his three year stint in the first team only managed 3 Premier League starts.  In his 41 appearances under Pep Guardiola he managed less than 1500 minutes in total.  For context, in his 38 appearances for Chelsea this season he has played just under 3000 minutes.

Mauricio Pochetino’s return for backing Palmer has seen the English international score 20 goals and provide nine assists in 28 premier league appearances, placing him at the top of the golden boot race with former team mate Erling Haaland and in tied second place on the assist rankings.

If we look beyond the numbers, his breakout season considering the circumstances at Chelsea has been incredible.  His ability to draw and beat defenders one-on-one creates space for team mates like Malo Gusto at fullback and Nicolas Jackson upfront to get in behind.

His passing range is equally as impressive. He is comfortable to build-up slowly with small range passing, play long-balls into space behind defences for Chelsea’s attackers and also just as capable of threading precise through balls in between the opposition’s backline, something which he has needed to do more often when playing centrally.

One aspect of his game that could definitely improve is his use of his right foot, of his 20 goals this season only 3 have come from his weaker foot. It also has the potential to make him slightly predictable at times when he attacks as he is very reliant on his left foot to create and shoot.

Naturally as this is his first full debut campaign in the Premier League defenders have not caught on as swiftly but as can be seen with other attackers heavily reliant on one foot they have had to evolve, an example being Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.  To continue his high output, the Egyptian has improved the use of both feet, not necessarily to score but to open up space with a pass or having the option to use his weak foot.

It would be an understatement to say Chelsea’s season has been a complete an utter failure considering their investment. It is likely that they will fail to qualify for European competition for back-to-back seasons, the first time this has happened in just under 30 years.  Cole Palmer has been one of the few positives of this season and if he is to continue this form he will be very much in the running for not only the Premier League’s Young Player of the Season, but in the conversation amongst Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah and Ollie Watkins to win the Premier League Player of the Season.

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Dylan Johnson