'He's like Bergkamp' - Arsenal legend gushes over new Chelsea star

Stuart Telford

• 5 Nov 2023 09:51 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea have dropped £1 billion on players under Todd Boehly, many of them failing to impress, but Cole Palmer is an exception according to Arsenal legend Paul Merson.

Palmer joined the Blues from Manchester City on the last day of the summer transfer window, moving for an initial £40 million with a further £2.5m to follow in add-ons.

Still just 21, the England U21 international has taken on a senior role at Stamford Bridge, contributing two goals and three assists in his nine games across all competitions so far.

READ: Revealed: Why Man City sold Cole Palmer to Chelsea this summer

He might have had more assists if his teammates had finished off more of the six big chances he has created in the Premier League, and Merson think Palmer brings a unique skill-set to Palmer's play.

"When they face teams who don't give them any space, they've only got Cole Palmer who can break anybody down," the former Arsenal winger, a two-time English champion with the Gunners, told Sky Sports.

Palmer 'like Bergkamp'

"He was outstanding the other day [against Blackburn in the EFL Cup]. He was like the Dennis Bergkamp of Arsenal for Chelsea, the amount of opportunities he made."

READ: Palmer best, Ugochukwu worst: Ranking Chelsea’s summer signings so far

Bergkamp is widely regarded as one of the Premier League's greatest ever forwards, and won three league titles with Arsenal in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Palmer may have hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge, but Boehly's transfer record is worrying overall, the 33 players signed over just three windows bringing mixed results.

Two of them - Kalidou Koulibaly and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - have already left, for Al-Hilal and Marseille respectively, and the team they have left behind find themselves languishing in 12 in the Premier League.

Palmer is valued at €30.9m (£26.8m) by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, and his ability should dwarf the fee the paid for him over the duration of his seven-year contract in West London.