Cole Palmer was by no means going to be a serious a part of a £1billion Chelsea plan to overtake Manchester Metropolis. As an alternative, Pep Guardiola has merely completed a quantity on the London membership’s soccer-naive house owners. A number of numbers in reality, none of which fairly add up.
So whereas the 21-year-old purchased from Manchester Metropolis for £43million on switch deadline day has impressed Chelsea followers along with his performances in an in any other case stuttering begin to the season, he received’t have the ability to stop one other three factors leaking away from Stamford Bridge this weekend.
The uncooked information is encouraging. Two assists in addition to his three objectives give him extra aim “involvements” than some other Chelsea participant aside from Monday night time’s “tap-in hat-trick” hero Nicolas Jackson. With 31 pictures at aim, he’s actually making an attempt.
He pressurises gamers extra usually than any of his team-mates and turns over possession extra within the remaining third. However as a substitute of bringing encouragement to Chelsea followers, Palmer’s presence might be simply one other reminder of how far Todd Boehly’s challenge is off the tempo of the place the membership’s house owners clearly felt that they had a proper to be.
Right here’s the place the Individuals’ “math” has fallen down.
2026: The final determine on Cole Palmer’s Etihad contract. Sure, he was getting stressed after displaying the primary inexperienced shoots for the season with objectives in each the Group Defend and the European Tremendous Cup. However with three years left on his contract there was completely no strain on Guardiola to promote if he didn’t need to.
12: The one distance in yards that Palmer appears in a position to rating from for Chelsea. Honest play to the teenager for grabbing the ball when so lots of his embellished team-mates appear reluctant to take the penalty duties.
0: The final word quantity. The quantity of gamers that Pep Guardiola has regretted promoting throughout his time at Manchester Metropolis. Chelsea have Palmer as a result of Guardiola might afford to let him go to a Premier League rival.
Why Chelsea let Manchester Metropolis have Matteo Kovacic, the right stand-in for the injured Kevin de Bruyne, for barely half as a lot is one other query fully.