What Graeme Souness said about Cole Palmer when he joined Chelsea now looks silly

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Many questioned Chelsea’s signing of Cole Palmer last summer, including Liverpool legend Graeme Souness.

The scepticism at the time was understandable given Cole Palmer‘s lack of Premier League experience and how much money Chelsea paid for his signature.

The attacker, who had only made 19 top-flight appearances for Manchester City before his move to Stamford Bridge, cost the Blues a reported £45m.

It was a lot of money for a 21-year-old who entered the men’s game not too long ago.

However, Chelsea’s gamble has undoubtedly paid off. The club knew what they were doing, though Souness had his doubts.

What did Graeme Souness actually say about Chelsea and Cole Palmer?

Souness was not too critical of Chelsea’s decision to bring Palmer in. However, he did suggest that the Palmer signing was quite a “strange” one because of the above.

In a column for the Daily Mail, which was posted back in September, the former midfielder said: “Chelsea’s decision to spend £45million on Cole Palmer, a 21-year-old with three Premier League starts, strikes me as strange and extremely bold.”

In fairness to Souness, most of us could not fully understand the Palmer signing at the time.

While Chelsea definitely did need a new attacking midfielder after selling Mason Mount and Kai Havertz, the England international did not look like the answer. How wrong we all were!

Cole Palmer’s stats justify Chelsea’s decision to sign him

Just looking at his numbers, Palmer has shown that Chelsea were right to take a chance on him and without his contribution this season, things would look even uglier for a team currently sitting in 11th.

In 34 appearances for Mauricio Pochettino‘s side, Palmer has scored 14 goals and provided 12 assists, an exceptional return.

He is now one goal or assist away from reaching 20 goal contributions in the Premier League after netting 11 times and providing on eight occasions. Again, then, how would Chelsea’s top-flight campaign look if the Englishman were still at City? If you are a Chelsea supporter, it is not something that you want to think about.

Palmer makes things happen; he is a very brave player. Over the last year, he has ranked in the 90th percentile for progressive passes, averaging 6.25 per 90 minutes (FBref).

The former City star was recently seen training away from the main group of England players at St George’s Park, but hopefully there are no injury concerns. He is one footballer Chelsea can certainly not afford to be without right now.