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Is Chelsea’s ‘amazing’ Cole Palmer the best attacking player in the Premier League?

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Is Chelsea’s ‘amazing’ Cole Palmer the best attacking player in the Premier League?

As he handed the Matthew Harding Stand on Chelsea’s lap of appreciation following a 4-2 win over Brighton and Hove Albion, Cole Palmer tucked his well-earned match ball below the entrance of his shirt to free his arms and return the applause.

His intent might have been sensible, however the picture it created was indelible: a 22-year-old famous person, pregnant with genius?

Many within the Premier League would contend that individual beginning has been and gone. Brighton coach Fabian Hurzeler admitted in his post-match press convention that, after six matches of a season that has already seen his staff meet Manchester United and Arsenal, Palmer is the very best particular person participant they’ve confronted.

“They’d one superb participant that punished each mistake we made,” Hurzeler stated of Palmer. “He punished each particular person mistake. You’ll be able to’t cease him in one-against-one conditions. We have now to defend towards him as a staff.”

Palmer made Premier League historical past towards Brighton, turning into the primary participant to attain 4 first-half targets. There was a tap-in, a usually nerveless penalty, a elegant free kick and whipped near-post end. He had one other purpose dominated out for an accurate however shut offside and hit the put up.

Off all these issues that occurred between the nineteenth minute and the forty first minute, solely the miss was stunning.

“I stated to Cole that he scored 4 targets, however he might have scored two or three extra,” Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca stated with a smile in his post-match press convention. “It’s good that he continues to be hungry, bold.”

Maresca went on to elucidate why he by no means worries about Palmer letting all of his quickly rising fame, adulation and checklist of particular person accolades go to his head.

“I do know Cole from a few years in the past, I had him for one whole season with the under-23s at Manchester Metropolis,” the Italian stated.

“The very best factor he has is that in the best way he’s right this moment as a boy, he was three or 4 years in the past. So targets, assists, finest participant of the Premier League… this doesn’t change who he’s. He’s a easy man, a humble man, and this for me is an important factor.”

One a part of Maresca’s reply caught within the thoughts: “finest participant of the Premier League”. In context, it appeared extra like a passing remark to underline the extent of Palmer’s grounded nature than a bullish declare about his place on the prime of the famous person hierarchy, however there’s a rising urge for food to make a honest argument on his behalf.

‘Finest participant’ debates in soccer are sometimes tedious, not least as a result of when most individuals say these two phrases they actually imply ‘finest attacking participant’. Rodri misplaced one match in 18 months for membership and nation earlier than rupturing his ACL towards Arsenal; how do you evaluate the worth of midfield controllers and defensive destroyers with those that deal within the foreign money of targets and assists?

Erling Haaland has been the logical alternative for finest attacking participant within the league nearly ever since arriving at Manchester Metropolis in the summertime of 2022, and a ridiculous 10 targets in his first six Premier League matches of 2024-25 suggests he has no intention of surrendering that individual mantle anytime quickly.

The one attacker whose output deserves severe comparability with the Norwegian phenomenon is Palmer. His six targets and 4 assists in 2024-25 give him the identical variety of direct purpose involvements as Haaland (10) and for the reason that starting of final season he’s one forward, with a major hole to the very best of the remainder:

In such rarefied air of attacking brilliance, private desire tends to be the ultimate differentiator. Haaland is essentially the most relentless, bodily overwhelming pure goalscorer of his era, virtually totally single-minded in his concentrate on ending strikes. Palmer scores much less — significantly so from open play final season — however creates far more, making him a pure hub by means of which Chelsea’s whole assault flows.

This was the story of a lot of the second half at Stamford Bridge; with 4 targets within the bag, Palmer dropped deeper into midfield, carving by means of Brighton’s excessive defensive position with completely weighted passes somewhat than the incisive runs that underpinned his first-half purpose rush. He might need added three assists to his tally if Nicolas Jackson had not misplaced the composure in entrance of purpose that he had proven towards West Ham.

However it’s these spectacular scoring bursts that do greater than anything to alert the remainder of the Premier League and soccer supporters at massive to Palmer’s dominance. In a little bit greater than a yr as a Chelsea starter, that is his third match ball and, extremely, it may not even be his most spectacular four-goal haul in a sport (sorry, Everton).

Palmer has as many Premier League hat-tricks as Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink. His tenth straight profitable penalty kick — transformed towards Brighton after grinning and nodding at Bart Verbruggen’s makes an attempt to place him off — strikes him to inside considered one of Yaya Toure, the person who boasts essentially the most Premier League penalties scored with no miss (11).

If the uncooked numbers are usually not sufficient to persuade that Palmer has an more and more credible declare to be thought of the Premier League’s finest attacker, the illustrious statistical firm he retains needs to be. The heralded achievements of bona fide legends are being matched and surpassed by a person with fewer than 60 league appearances to his title and who doesn’t flip 23 till Might.

He shall be 31 when his Chelsea contract expires. Palmer has a famous person trajectory, a protracted runway and, expectantly, an actual probability to turn out to be the benchmark for all different Premier League attackers.

(Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside by way of Getty Pictures)

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