Stamford Bridge fell after Roman Abramovich’s illustrious long-time ownership ended. Chelsea have started to piece their squad back together and look like they could grow into quite the force under the leadership of Enzo Maresca.
But will they? What are the variables at play here? Balance and chemistry and time to knit together are essential, but in truth, the Blues have one of the most exciting attacking lines around, with so much talent to pick from.
Noni Madueke’s emphatic start to the season has been pleasing, while the likes of Joao Felix, Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho bring genuine quality after all arriving during the summer.
But Cole Palmer is still the cream of the crop. Of course he is. The England star simply has to remain as the centrepiece of the project over the coming years.
The impact of Cole Palmer at Chelsea
He came, he conquered. Only, he hasn’t, not yet. It does feel that way though: Palmer moved to Chelsea in a deal worth £42.5m in August 2023 and went on to produce one of the most incredible breakout seasons that the Premier League has ever seen.
Premier League 23/24: Most Goals + Assists | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Apps | G+A |
1. | Cole Palmer | 34 | 33 |
2. | Erling Haaland | 31 | 32 |
2. | Ollie Watkins | 37 | 32 |
4. | Mohamed Salah | 32 | 28 |
5. | Phil Foden | 35 | 27 |
5. | Heung-min Son | 35 | 27 |
The table above tells the tale. Well, it doesn’t really. Palmer’s brilliance is such that he might be one of the most prolific attacking midfielders in the world but he has age-belying game intelligence and a silkiness to his movements and decisions that enhances the whole of Chelsea’s first team.
He’s the real deal. Chelsea skipper Reece James proclaimed him to be “one of the best in the world“, and you can’t exactly argue against it with any conviction.
A true superstar, the 22-year-old has swiftly dispelled any notion of being a ‘one-season wonder’ by notching one goal and four assists over the first four top-flight fixtures of 2024/25.
Five goal contributions from four games is pretty good going, and though Erling Haaland’s set a new bar that we’ll avoid as if it were the glare of the sun, there is another Premier League phenom with a higher tally than Chelsea’s main man.
Indeed, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah continues to prove his class, and he was once of a Blues persuasion…
Chelsea must rue the day they let Mo Salah leave
Salah would stake a good claim for getting into the all-time Premier League starting line-up, with the right-winger having scored 160 goals and added 72 assists over 267 appearances.
This season, the Egypt international has posted three goals and assists apiece for Liverpool, having also featured four times in the Premier League.
The 32-year-old might have endured a torrid time against Nottingham Forest last time out, but he’s still the gold standard, supercharging Liverpool throughout their illustrious period under Jurgen Klopp and carrying his quality into the Merseysiders’ new era with Arne Slot at the helm.
How different things could have been. Salah signed for Chelsea from FC Basel in 2014 for a ‘paltry’ fee of £11m. He scored twice against the Stamford Bridge side in the Champions League and arrested Jose Mourinho’s intrigue, though it didn’t work out in the end.
The now-revered winger was hit by friendly fire after one League Cup victory over Shrewsbury Town, with Mourinho criticising his performance. It was no surprise when he moved away, initially on loan to Fiorentina before heading to Roma and enjoying a short-term stint before making the move permanent for £12m.
“If players who played 90 minutes two days ago were fantastic I expect people who are not playing a lot to raise the level to create me problems. They didn’t create me big problems.” – Mourinho on Salah & Schurrle.
The rest is history and all that. But one thing that will definitely rankle the Blues hierarchy is the money that could have been recouped for a player who’s now of a “world-class” calibre, such is the way Jurgen Klopp described him.
Last summer, the Saudi Pro League had a vested interest in Salah (they still do, and offered Liverpool some £150m for his signature). This was rejected as the Anfield side looked to restore their position in the lofty pantheon of modern great outfits.
What could have been indeed… Palmer is the new kid on the block and will hope to forge a career of the same ilk as Salah’s in the Premier League, and while he’s on the way to doing so, if at the fledgling phase, there’s no doubt an air of ruefulness about the way things panned out with this one.
