Chelsea icon names Cole Palmer’s weakness and how he can fix it

Cole Palmer has been urged to be more of a ‘killer’ (Picture: Getty Images)

Former Chelsea star Marcel Desailly has cast doubt over Cole Palmer’s mindset for top level football, questioning whether he is enough of a ‘killer’.

The 24-year-old has become a star of the Premier League since joining the Blues from Manchester City in 2023, thanks to a stunning first season in west London.

That first campaign saw Palmer score 22 league goals in just 33 games, quickly turning into one of the top players in the country after why Chelsea had signed him had been questioned.

However, he has been declining since then, with 15 goals in 2024/25 and 10 in the season just gone, with form as well as numbers ebbing away.

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He has been hampered by a groin problem, making just 26 Premier League appearances last season, but his impact has declined so much that he has missed out on the England squad for this summer’s World Cup.

Desailly feels he is not in command of his own destiny enough and has been too happy to be played out wide when it is not his strongest position.

The Frenchman, who played 222 times for Chelsea, believes Palmer is too happy to accept his fate and that shows a lack of killer instinct.

It has been a frustrating season for Cole Palmer at Chelsea (Picture: Getty Images)

‘What a talent – there’s nothing to say against the talent of Palmer. The only doubt I have around Palmer is how he has been used. He’s playing on the right side,’ Desailly told MrRaffle.com.

‘I saw him more, like [Enzo] Fernández, playing in that position behind a striker and having the responsibility for the offensive animation. They did not give him that role. But I could also see that he never came out and said, “I can do it, I am ready for it.”

‘I feel that mentally, the talent is there – no doubt – but mentally he’s not a killer. Each top player has to be a killer inside himself.He wants to win trophies, he wants to be the best, and he’s ready to work hard to become the best.

‘I feel that Palmer is satisfied if he has to stay, okay; if he has to go, okay. He doesn’t seem to have a problem with anything.’

Marcel Desailly wants to see a more demanding Cole Palmer (Picture: Getty Images)

The World Cup winner says Palmer must make it clear to his manager – who will imminently by Xabi Alonso – that he wants to play as a number 10 and his talent should see him given that opportunity.

‘Because of the level he has reached today, he has to step up,’ said Desailly. ‘Even though he’s young, he has to protect his status and take responsibility for success and also for the problems the team is facing.

‘He needs to ask the coach to stop putting him right, left, up, down, striker, or on the right. He needs to say, “No, I want to play as a number 10. I am capable of it, adapt the system to me.”

‘So he’s not yet a killer. Talented, but no killer.’

Xabi Alonso is taking over as Chelsea manager this summer (Picture: Getty Images)

Palmer will be hoping Alonso has full faith in him when the former Real Madrid manager takes charge at Stamford Bridge on July 1.

‘Everyone’s excited. He’s a top manager, so we can’t wait to get started,’ Palmer told Sky Sports of the Spaniard’s imminent arrival.

The possible departure of Enzo Fernandez could see Palmer unleashed in the number 10 position, with Real Madrid and Manchester City interested in the Argentine who is open to a move.

A stumbling block could be the enormous asking price of £120m that the Blues have put on Fernandez, according to ESPN.

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William Saliba injury fears addressed by France boss Didier Deschamps

William Saliba is hoping to be fit to start France’s World Cup campaign (Picture: Getty Images)

France managed Didier Deschamps has allayed fears over William Saliba’s fitness ahead of the World Cup campaign beginning this month.

Saliba played the full 120 minutes on Saturday in Budapest as Arsenal were beaten on penalties in the Champions League final by Paris Saint-Germain.

The 25-year-old was then back in north London with the rest of the Gunners squad for the Premier League trophy parade on Sunday afternoon.

The centre-back was on the open-top bus with his teammates celebrating with an incredible crowd of Arsenal fans, reportedly around 1,000,000 strong.

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However, reports emerged on Monday that Saliba was struggling with a back injury and his condition worsened after the Champions League final.

French publication Foot Mercato reported that the defender could be out for several weeks and his participation at the World Cup was in doubt.

Deschamps has dismissed those fears, speaking briefly about the issue at the national team base at Clairefontaine on Monday.

Didier Deschamps sounds relaxed on Saliba’s status (Picture: Getty Images)

As reported by La Depeche, the France boss said he had ‘read nothing’ about an injury, adding: ‘He’s here, everything is fine.’

Saliba did undergo tests on his fitness on Monday, with the medical staff still waiting on results and whether he is 100 per cent fit or not is unclear, despite his manager sounding confident.

RMC Sport say it ‘remains to be seen’ whether he will be fit to start against Senegal on June 16, when France get their World Cup campaign underway.

Saliba is likely to start for France at the World Cup, if fit (Picture: Getty Images)

Saliba will hope to prove his fitness and nail down his place in the starting XI as there is great competition in the heart of defence.

Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate and Maxence Lacroix are also in the squad, while Jules Kounde is also an option at centre-back.

If fit, the likely pairing will be Saliba and Upamecano, with France also facing Iraq and Norway in Group I of the tournament.

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Man Utd still planning serious move for £100m Man City target after Ederson transfer

United still hope they can convince him to choose Old Trafford (Picture: Getty)

Manchester United have not given up hope of signing Elliot Anderson ahead of their neighbours Manchester City this summer.

Anderson has been United’s top target for their midfield rebuild this summer, enhancing his reputation further this season with performances that will likely guarantee him a place in Thomas Tuchel’s England XI at the World Cup.

United’s hopes of bringing him to Old Trafford have been hampered by City’s interest.

City’s own engine room is in need of strengthening with Bernardo Silva moving on.

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Anderson is said to favour a move to the blue half of Manchester with the iPaper reporting a deal to sign him is ‘well advanced’ with Pep Guardiola’s departure doing little to disrupt proceedings.

However, the report adds United still intend to make a ‘serious play’ for the England star who is valued at over £100m by Forest.

With Casemiro set to leave Old Trafford when his contract expires this summer, United want to sign at least two new midfielders – possibly three if Manuel Ugarte also moves on.

Club legends Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes have all named Anderson as the man who can be a long-term solution in the middle of the park.

Anderson is expected to leave Forest this summer (Picture: Getty)

‘I see too many crabs playing central midfield,’ Neville said. ‘You can’t have too many people who play five-yard passes back and sideways. You need to put players in there who are going to look forward and punch passes through the lines and have their head up.

‘Elliot Anderson can do that. He can take set pieces. So for me, he would be an outstanding candidate to come here.’

Ferdinand said last month: ‘Elliot Anderson, he seems to have jumped to the front of the queue. I think he’s a wonderful player.

Ederson has agreed a move to United (Picture: Getty)

‘I think Elliot Anderson is the right type not only of player but character, I thin he’d be a good addition to the squad.’

United are exploring other options however and are close to a deal to sign Ederson from Atalanta.

The 26-year-old Brazilian, left out of Carlo Ancelotti’s squad heading to the World Cup, has agreed personal terms over a £38million move that could be finalised by the end of the week.

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Ignore the critics – compelling characters and plot twists made this the best Premier League season yet

Arsenal outlasted their competition to win their first Premier League title in 22 years (Picture: Getty)

It’s been five days since the 2025-26 Premier League season ended and I’m already nostalgic for it.

Of course, the football world has already moved on – we have a Champions League final on Saturday, and anyway it’s all been preamble to the biggest, baddest, best-ever World Cup™.

But I think in a very short time we’ll be considering this season of top-flight football to have been one of the greats. It’s not a season of consistent quality that has set me alight – though Manchester City’s 2-1 win against Arsenal at the Etihad last month had me cooing. The thrillingly tight contest, the duels, the incisive passing and Rayan Cherki’s fittingly stunning opener; I melt.

People will complain about what we saw on the pitch, argue that Arsenal bitched and grappled their way to the title in an unbecoming manner. But they were the best team in England and they won it. It may have been a slog towards the end, but at times in their campaign they were irresistible.

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I loved 2025-26 because every club got to have their own, gripping narrative arc. There was, and I mean this literally, something for everyone. Tales of greatness – both sudden and long-planned – and of absolute, breathtaking incompetence.

There was a real title race, so nearly to the final day. And there was a relegation scrap that ran into the final minutes of Sunday afternoon, between two clubs whose financial might should make this impossible – but instead made it spectacular.

Bournemouth finished sixth and will play in Europe for the very first time. A club with a stadium capacity of 11,000, like Luton Town, they were bottom of League Two in 2009. Andoni Iraola’s approach to management should be being taught.

Arsenal won a title race that twisted and turned throughout the season (Picture: Getty)

Might Chelsea redistribute funds to a lesson? Four places below, with nothing meaningful to show for £1.5billion spent in four years of BlueCo ownership, the club’s coked-up uncle vibes have been largely amusing, unless they’re your team.

Aston Villa, meanwhile, built from their stint in the Championship to earn their Champions League place twice this season. Algorithm fans’ favourite club Brighton return to Europe for only the second time, earning Conference League football. Depending on how they manage their inflated match schedule, this is a tournament they could win. It’d be their first-ever major trophy. They should talk to Crystal Palace, who are making a habit of them.

Bournemouth were one of the surprise packages this season (Picture: Getty)

And how about Sunderland? After promotion from the Championship via the play-offs had started to look as though it was a one-season thing, the Black Cats put together a season almost without precedent. They qualified for Europe in seventh and, perhaps more importantly for their fans, finished above Newcastle.

The neat wrapping of narrative threads is so strong, it feels like the end of a very successful Netflix series. One a few seasons down the line, perhaps the sixth, beginning after Leicester won the league.

Manchester City is the troubled, brilliant lead embodied by their manager Pep Guardiola, the passionate hero who changes all around him, winning success beyond all others except season four’s Scottish daredevil Sir Alex.

Pep’s the headline but in case you missed the era-defining nature of his departure, John Stones and Bernardo Silva go too: the latter the perfect Pep player, the former the last remaining starter from his first City team.

The 115 charges must be the narrative thrust for season seven, episode one at least – and they might mean another character grabs the spotlight. Could it be Arsenal?

Title-winners they may be, but they’ve not been driving the plot. Their role is as a slightly evil Neville Longbottom. Hard-working, long the butt of the joke, they got fit in sixth form. Have they got main-character energy? Shooting begins in August.

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