Cole Palmer was regarded as one of the best players in the world not too long ago. After that performance against PSG in the Club World Cup final, as he scored twice and set up Joao Pedro’s goal in a 3-0 Chelsea win, many even started viewing the Englishman as a Ballon d’Or-level talent. But things have changed quickly since then.
Palmer endured a bad season. He struggled with a groin injury that troubled him for months. And even when he returned to fitness, he did not look sure of himself. It looked like his confidence was low and he was no longer making the instinctive decisions that made him so brilliant.
It might just be a case of Palmer playing a ton of football. But this is the one he would not have wanted to sit out. Yet, Thomas Tuchel decided to leave him out of the England squad for the World Cup, two years after he scored in the EURO final for them.
That goal went in vain as Spain won 2-1. Lamine Yamal was on the winning side that night, even though he did not score. And the Barcelona wonderkid does not believe that Palmer is underrated. According to The Touchline, he said:
Cole Palmer is not underrated, he wears number 10 for Chelsea and ended 9th in Ballon d’Or. How can he be underrated?
Lamine Yamal does not view Cole Palmer as someone who is underrated
That is a fair point for sure. Palmer is widely recognised as one of the best players in world football when fit and in form. Unfortunately, we have not seen that version of him in a little while.
Hopefully, the drop in his form is temporary and we will see Palmer back to his best very soon. But one could argue that he has gotten underrated as a result of it.
There are many people willing to write Palmer off as a one-season wonder. Well, that performance against PSG did come at the end of his second season with the club.
And even when you look at his numbers for the 25/26 campaign, they are not terrible. Yes, they are not up to his standards. But even then, he did score 10 Premier League goals.
Cole Palmer needs to find his best form for Chelsea next season
Chelsea fans will be hoping that the World Cup snub gives Palmer an extra impetus to go out and prove himself next season. And in Xabi Alonso, he might have a manager shrewd enough to get the best out of him again.
Alonso played an integral part in the development of Florian Wirtz at Bayer Leverkusen. He does not even need to develop Palmer, just get him back to his best form.
The summer off could do wonders for Palmer as well. Let’s not overlook the fact that he is not the only mercurial talent who looked tired and out of sorts this season.
The same can be said for Phil Foden of Manchester City and Bukayo Saka of Arsenal. So, has every talented English youngster just lost their talent magically? Or are we just playing way too much football in England?
