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.
‘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.’
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.’
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.
from Football – Metro https://ift.tt/ZF2iwvc
