Analysis on Cole Palmer and his potential fit at Chelsea

What will Cole Palmer add to Chelsea?:

With the recent news emerging that Chelsea have added Cole Palmer to their attacking targets and have already begun negotiations for the young Englishman, what can the Manchester City youth product offer to Chelsea?

Cole Palmers Player Profile:

Cole Palmer is a 21-year-old who has been in the Manchester City academy since 2010. He made his first senior appearance on the 30th of September, 2020, in a 3-0 win over Burnley in the EFL cup fourth round.

Palmer has also played for England since the U15 age group, all the way to the U21 England age group, where he has made 13 appearances and scored 4 goals.

Cole Palmer is a versatile attacking player, who has played on both wings (left and right) as well as in the number 10 (Attacking midfield). Standing at 6ft tall, Palmer has a wirey running style, and can use his body well to protect the ball when driving at the opposition.

He is also left footed, and is extremely effective when cutting inside on his left foot. He has a great eye for goal and loves to get his shot off. Palmer takes a total of 2.63 shots per 90 (which ranks in the top 99% amongst other midfielders), and creates 3.85 shot creating actions per 90 (top 92 %).

Palmer is a brilliant ball striker, and his technique is extremely good for such a young age. His variation of striking range, shot types and decision making at only the age of 21, is already at a top level.

His fit at Chelsea:

The first thing to point out is Palmer clearly fits the mould of what Chelsea are building towards currently. They are a very young side, and the idea is for Pochettino to work with this group of elite talented youngsters, and create a squad capable of challenging for major honours in both the present and future.

At 21 years of age, Palmer is still very mouldable as a player and this is something Pochettino will like, as he can integrate him into his system, and mould him into the player he wants. The squad is also thriving off of their togetherness in this early stage, and Palmer being already friends with the likes of Levi Colwill, Romeo Lavia and Noni Madeueke will allow him to settle quickly and integrate into this tightly knit group.

As previously mentioned, the positional versatility of Palmer would be a great asset for Chelsea, the fact he can play on both wings and is naturally an attacking midfielder, would allow him to fit seamlessly into Pochettino’s attacking rotations.

Pochettino likes one of his fullbacks to provide width, and therefore he likes one of his wideplayers to be able to invert centrally and become a second AM (number 10), to create that box midfield.

In this example of Cole Palmer on the left, Palmer would be able to invert and become the left attacking midfielder, at the top of the box midfield, completed by Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. This would then allow Chilwell to be the higher fullback, providing width on the left, something we saw a lot in pre-season.

Palmer is also versatile enough that if Chilwell drifts centrally, he could hold the width on the left, and this is the sort of positional versatility that Pochettino wants from his side, to be more unpredictable in their movements and patterns,

Here is another example where Palmer could invert from the right hand side, and I believe this would be his best position to thrive in.

This would allow Palmer to become the right sided attacking midfielder, and the ability to cut inside on his strong left foot, and use that ball striking ability he possesses to get shots off. This is something we could see when Pochettino wants Mudryk to hold the width on the left, and this could see Reece James or Malo Gusto as the more attacking fullback on the right side.

Palmer could also start as the no10, in a 4-2-3-1 with Enzo and Caicedo/Lavia behind him, and this would allow for more attacking options such as Sterling and Mudryk or Sterling and Madueke in the same team etc. This is the sort of versatility Pochettino wants in his squad, so he can make changes based on game state, and use different combinations based on the opposition.

Not to mention, Chelsea still have the likes of Nkunku and Chukwuemeka to return, who also offer versatility in that front line.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I believe if Chelsea can get Cole Palmer for around £40/£45m, it would be a decent piece of business, which fits the mould and direction of the club. Palmer is good enough to contribute instantly, and ofcourse had a very high ceiling too, which again fits the strategy currently at Chelsea.

I could definitely see him fitting in well with this group of players, and thriving in the Pochettino system, where he can float between wide areas and attacking midfield areas, and use his best assets, such as ball striking and ball carrying.