Chelsea talent who left at 16 is now worth £109m & better than Palmer

Where would Chelsea be without Cole Palmer? Would it be bold to say that Stamford Bridge might still languish in the trenches of the Premier League, had, say, Christopher Nknunku not picked up the injury that promoted Mauricio Pochettino to sign a new number ten?

The England international, still only 22 years old, triumphed last year, defying the expectations of one so young, sitting in the shadows of the fringe at Manchester City, blooming like a flower on steroids as he rose toward the top.

£40m bargain. Bargain of the century. It feels that way. Palmer has been praised as “one of the best players in the world” by Blues captain Reece James and he continues to showcase his quality under Enzo Maresca this year, notching two goals and four assists across five top-flight fixtures so far.

Believe it or not, Chelsea had a superstar-to-be in their ranks once who might actually be even better than Palmer…

When Chelsea fumbled the bag on Jamal Musiala

In 2020 Chelsea rejected Bayern Munich’s £70m bid for Callum Hudson-Odoi. The winger is enjoying a resurgence with Nottingham Forest at present but in hindsight, this is an extraordinary sum that was missed out on for a player who hasn’t reached the heights once envisaged.

One year earlier, another dealing between the two outfits took place, one that attracted far less attention at the time. Jamal Musiala joined the Bavarians as a 16-year-old in July 2019, seemingly taking a leaf out of Jadon Sancho’s book in moving to Germany to make his name.

It’s been an undisputable success for a player now described as a “future Ballon d’Or winner” by his Bayern teammate Alphonso Davies. Across 169 career senior club appearances, the 21-year-old has scored 46 goals and supplied 31 assists.

Chelsea demonstrated with their unwillingness to part with Hudson-Odoi that they were willing to keep an iron grip on their most talented academy prospects, but Musiala had not had a sniff of senior action at that stage and his future success was undetermined.

How Jamal Musiala compares to Cole Palmer

Now thriving as a superstar of the European game, Musiala is one of Bayern Munich’s most important cogs and is being pursued by Manchester City as the indomitable Premier League champions look to prudently land the heir to Kevin De Bruyne’s throne. Real Madrid are also rumoured to be interested.

There’s just cause for such a brewing battle, too. Musiala might not quite offer the same level of prolificness as Palmer, but he is endowed with the most elite athletic skillset and has a wonderful silkiness that few – if any – can match. not even the Chelsea star himself.

Musiala’s ball-carrying is something that would have fit right in at Maresca’s Chelsea. Moreover, the Germany international is crisper with his technicals, instrumental in upholding the control-focused values of his new Die Roten manager Vincent Kompany.

Palmer was renowned for his goalscoring with Chelsea last term but when taking away penalty kicks, it can be seen that Musiala actually fires home at a more productive rate. This is not to tarnish Palmer’s wonderful ability, but rather to highlight just how good his positional peer really is.

He’s only played four Bundesliga matches this season but Musiala has scored three goals, completed 85% of his passes and averaged 2.8 dribbles, 1.8 key passes and 6.8 successful duels per game, as per Sofascore, with that lattermost metric underscoring his tenacious approach and willingness to get stuck in and help the defence.

This roundedness is something that further sets him apart from the likes of Palmer. Musiala is capable of affecting the game across a range of areas and scenarios.

The rangy 6-foot playmaker also claimed two assists in the Champions League as his outfit decimated Dinamo Zagreb in matchweek one, winning 9-2.

The £81k-per-week talent is actually a bit younger than Palmer and as the years pass by it’s conceivable that they stand as the dominant hybrid attacking midfielders at the height of the game, Musiala with the balletic grace and Palmer with the robotic clinical touch that the very best players find comes innately.

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Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.

Jamal Musiala’s market value in 2024

It’s hardly going to come as a surprise that Musiala is considered among the highest-valued young players in the world. According to Transfermarkt’s player valuation model, Musiala currently boasts a market price of £109m.

This aligns with the tune that prospective suitors seem willing to play too. Back in the summer, Football Insider reported that Liverpool were keen on rivalling Pep Guardiola’s City for the player but would have to meet Bayern’s demands in excess of £100m for the prodigy’s sale.

For such first-class quality, such an outlay would be necessary and understandably so. There are indeed few that can rival such a financial standing and Palmer, at the moment, is not among them.

Transfermarkt records the Chelsea playmaker’s value at £68m at the moment, and though this will likely rise even higher over the coming months, he has a distance to traverse before he can outstrip the former Blues prospect.