Chelsea made a lot of attacking signings during the summer transfer window, but Cole Palmer remains the best offensive player at the club.
Cole Palmer has started this season just as he finished the last one. In the three Premier League games the 22-year-old has played so far, he has already scored one goal and provided four assists.
Last term, Palmer came up with 33 goal contributions in as many top-flight games for Chelsea.
Gabriel Agbonlahor has now been discussing the Englishman. Another pundit, Darren Bent, has also been speaking about Palmer after his nomination for the Ballon d’Or award.
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Gabriel Agbonlahor slams Enzo Maresca and Chelsea after Cole Palmer decision
Palmer was easily Chelsea’s best player last season and that remains the case in this campaign so far.
Nevertheless, Enzo Maresca and Chelsea have decided to leave Palmer out of their squad for the Conference League group stage, clearly feeling that they can make it to the knockout round without him.
For Agbonlahor, they have absolutely disrespected the competition by doing so.
Speaking on talkSPORT about the omissions of Palmer, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana, the former Aston Villa striker said: “I think it’s disrespectful to the competition because they wouldn’t do that for the Europa League or the Champions League.
“They are looking at the Europa Conference League and are like, ‘We are Chelsea, we shouldn’t be in this. Let’s rest our players who may pick up knocks, especially as Lavia and Fofana have had injury problems.'”
Chelsea should have included Cole Palmer in their Conference League squad
Chelsea could have easily included Palmer in their Conference League squad and left him on the bench for games, only calling on him when they are chasing a win.
The Blues have more than enough in their arsenal to qualify for the next round without the England international, but he is just a good option to have. Who knows what will actually happen once the group stage kicks off?
It is an option that Chelsea will not have, though, meaning that Maresca will have to rely on the likes of Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto and Christopher Nkunku.
Of course, they are not bad alternatives, with Nkunku already scoring twice in the competition, albeit from the penalty spot.
Nkunku is seen as Chelsea’s second-choice striker after the club’s failure to sign Victor Osimhen from Napoli during the summer transfer window.
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