‘Cole Palmer can be better than Kevin de Bruyne’

Carlo Garganese

• 17 Apr 2024 18:00 BST
• 4 min read

Former Chelsea star Pat Nevin has hailed Cole Palmer, suggesting that the English wonderkid has what it takes to be even better than Kevin de Bruyne.

Palmer has been an absolute revelation since joining Chelsea from Manchester City last summer.

The 21-year-old has been one of the best players in the Premier League, scoring an incredible 20 goals in the league and challenging for the Golden Boot.

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Ex-Chelsea man Nevin has heaped praise on Palmer, observing that the youngster will go right to the very top of the game.

What did Nevin say?

“I'm not surprised that Cole Palmer is this good, I'm just surprised he's this good this quickly. When he was at Manchester City I covered a few of his first games and I remember I almost shocked myself by saying that this guy could be the next Kevin De Bruyne,” Nevin told Grosvenor Casinos.

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“Just looking at him technically, as a player, he's got everything. But that's not the thing. The thing was that his team-mates kept giving him the ball.

“He was playing for Manchester City coming off the bench and they were feeding him the ball, they were giving him the ball all the time. They'll know if somebody's not up to their standard from training.

“If they know you’re good enough it doesn't matter if you're aged 15 or 45 they'll give you the ball. I thought Chelsea won the biggest watch imaginable by getting him. But I didn’t think he would be this good this quick. That would be too much to ask for.

“You have a look back at the likes of Kevin De Bruyne when he was at Cole Palmer’s age, was he as good? Was he at the top level in the Premier League scoring 20 goals?

“I’m not saying he's going to be a better player than Kevin De Bruyne - but he's got what it takes. He's absolutely got what it takes to be one of the very best in the business.

“Whether that's going to continue Chelsea all his career we don’t know, certainly it's the perfect place for him now. Some people crumble under that pressure and some people just flower - he's the latter.”

Palmer grew up in the Man City youth academy but failed to get enough chances in the senior side, leading to his sale to Chelsea last summer.

City will now be regretting that decision after his brilliant performances at Stamford Bridge.