Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino is backing Cole Palmer to break into Mauricio Pochettino’s starting XI.
Chelsea have a lot of attacking options when everyone is fit, but Cascarino is not too worried about Cole Palmer‘s chances of getting into the team.
Speaking on talkSPORT about the 21-year-old following his move from Manchester City to the Blues, Cascarino said: “You can see he is a very gifted player. Saw him a few times last year coming on off the bench and into the game, settled in it, no problem.
“And there’s been a lot of talk he won’t get in the Chelsea team. I wouldn’t say that. He’s very capable of breaking into the Chelsea team and finding a role for himself in that side because he’s got a lot of ability.”
Christopher Nkunku and Carney Chukwuemeka are currently out injured, so Palmer has the chance to really stake a claim for a place in Chelsea’s team.
He started the season well at City, scoring in both the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup.
Cole Palmer is a gifted player
As well as managing to find the back of the net in City’s Super Cup triumph over Sevilla, Palmer also completed four dribbles (WhoScored). No player on the night managed to record more, so it is clear to see that the English youngster is someone who is capable of beating defenders.
Palmer is quite a versatile attacker as well, being able to play out wide and not just behind the striker, so he certainly has his strengths.
You can still probably argue that the England U21 international, who his former City team-mate Kyle Walker has described as “incredible”, may not be worth his price tag yet.
According to BBC Sport, Chelsea paid an initial £40m for Palmer, who has little Premier League experience. However, they probably needed to bring in another attacking midfielder, especially after Nkunku’s injury.
It will now be interesting to see if Palmer can become a regular at Stamford Bridge.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
