Cole Palmer’s elevation in one year is incredible and testament to him – Talk Chelsea

It’s time to hand out some more flowers to Chelsea’s talisman Cole Palmer, as if he doesn’t already have a garden full of them.

I remember being sat in the pub at Stamford Bridge just over a year ago with lads like Luke Rushbrook and Rob Pratley, and of course Charlie as you guys might remember from this site. And the news came out that Chelsea were signing Cole Palmer from Manchester City. Myself and Luke were buzzing about it.

I then saw a lot of negativity from some Chelsea fans online criticising the signing. I found that very odd. I believed it to be a fantastic signing and I rated Palmer a lot at that time.

But even at that point, I never imagined him to have the impact that he had last season. If not for Cole Palmer last season, Chelsea wouldn’t have finished anywhere near as high as they did. Quite literally, take Palmer’s goals and assists out, and we would have been nowhere. He very much was a Chelsea talisman. He carried the team on many occasions a lot like a prime Eden Hazard did.

Cole Palmer in 23/24:

⭐️MOTM v Arsenal

⭐️MOTM v Tottenham

⭐️MOTM v Man City

⭐️MOTM v Fulham

⭐️MOTM v Newcastle

⭐️MOTM v Everton

⭐️MOTM v Man Utd

⭐️MOTM v West Ham

⭐️MOTM v Burnley

⭐️MOTM v Sheffield Utd x2

⭐️MOTM v Brentford

⭐️MOTM v Palace

⭐️MOTM v Luton

⭐️MOTM v Forest

⭐️MOTM v Brighton

⭐️MOTM v Bournemouth

🏆POTM April

🏆GOTM April

🏆Chelsea Player of the Year

🏆Chelsea Players’ Player of the Year

🏆Premier League’s Young Player of the Season

🏆PFA Premier League Fans’ Player of the Year

🏆PFA Young Player of the Year

🥈Euro 2024 Runner Up

⭐️Ballon D’Or Nomination 2024

• 27 Goals, 16 Assists in All Comps (Including Euro 24).

This is true insanity! Absolutely unbelievable.

His trajectory has been mad. One year on, he’s just represented England at the Euros (should have been starting every game too), and now, he’s just been nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’Or, which we all know is a huge achievement just to get nominated.

Palmer only turned 22 in May, but he is now flying towards becoming an elite world class player.

I don’t even have any fears when he drops a couple of bad performances, because you know he has an elite mentality and fully backs himself. His confidence is so high and I can’t ever see that dropping. His mentality is exactly what we need in our players. The way he always confidently steps up to convert penalties in high pressured situations is amazing.

I’ve truly watched on this last year watching Palmer play in pure amazement and often shock. I rated him highly this time last year, but even I’ve been shocked at how well he has done, I didn’t expect that, at least not to be as impactful and influential as fast as he was.

He has come along SO far in such a small amount of time, it’s unheard of. We are lucky to have Palmer as a Chelsea player and now we are even luckier this season that he can share the burden of goals and assists with the quality attack we have assembled (bar a true and prolific 9). Palmer had so much weight (not literally) to carry on his shoulders last season I am not surprised his muscles are a bit fatigued right now. At least that weight can be shared this season.

I run out of words to say about Palmer and he’s certainly costing me a lot in flowers from the shop! But long may his rise to the top continue, and I am so pleased he has got the global recognition of Ballon d’Or and also, people copying his celebration around the world – that’s a testament to the impact he’s had on football alone.

There will be bumps, nobody is a miracle worker. He can’t be a 9/10 every game. We must expect that and not too much from a 22-year-old. But with his confidence and natural quality, I have no doubt that I will be once again writing this article next year saying how his trajectory has grown EVEN more!