Man City regret obvious as Cole Palmer returns again as key Chelsea leader for Enzo Maresca

Evening Standard

·25 de enero de 2025

Man City regret obvious as Cole Palmer returns again as key Chelsea leader for Enzo Maresca

Man City’s loss has been Chelsea’s gain as Palmer has proved former club wrong

The battle of fourth and fifth at the Etihad on Saturday could prove a crucial chapter in deciding which of the two sides seals Champions League football for next season. It is, for both Chelsea and Manchester City, a very important match indeed.

OneFootball Videos

But it is also a ‘here’s what you could have won’ moment for Pep Guardiola and City — Cole Palmer’s return to his former club a subplot that is impossible to overlook.

The contrasting fortunes of the two sides’ attacking midfielders is no doubt a contributing factor to their diverging seasons. Chelsea are enjoying a relatively blissful first campaign under Enzo Maresca, certainly when compared to the previous two; City are champions four seasons on the trot but this term can so often be found playing like they have collectively seen a ghost.

While Phil Foden is only now beginning to show signs of life this season by complementing Erling Haaland’s goal supply, Chelsea fans are being treated to another season of scintillating creativity from their own playmaker, Palmer. That, City, is what you could have won.

Following 25 goals and 15 assists in his first season at Chelsea, the 22-year-old has 20 goal contributions from 22 league games for the Blues this term. The presence of Foden was the main obstacle between Palmer and the quantities of game time he longed for at City. Already, Palmer has usurped Foden as one of the Premier League’s truly great talents.

Cole Palmer has been far more consistent than Phil Foden over the past 18 months

AFP via Getty Images

As he returns to face the club that so bizarrely sanctioned his sale in September 2023 for just £40million plus £2.5m in add-ons, it need not be said that he could have the deciding say in how Saturday’s meeting pans out.

“I don’t think so,” said Maresca on Friday after a pause and a ponder, when asked whether City might regret having ever sold Palmer to Chelsea.

But of course they regret it. And Maresca’s suggestion that “no one at City was thinking Cole was not good enough” cannot be true either. Guardiola and City misjudged quite how high Palmer’s ceiling was. Their loss has been Chelsea’s great gain.

Palmer was a doubt for Monday night’s 3-1 win against Wolves after picking up a knock against Bournemouth. While the three other Chelsea doubts missed the game, Palmer's name, predictably enough, was there on the team-sheet. What followed was described by his manager as “one of his best second-half [displays] since I arrived here, because he was showing personality.”

Already, Palmer has usurped Foden as one of the Premier League’s truly great talents

Maresca had noted that: “He was asking for the ball in any moment, in times when the team needs that. At Liverpool, when they have [difficult] moments, [Mohamed] Salah is asking for the ball. At Arsenal, Martin Odegaard is asking for the ball.

“In our team, I think the one who can do that is Cole. He is starting to do that.

“That is why one of the best moments for him was the second half against Wolves. He didn’t score or get any assists, but it was because in that moment he showed to his team-mates that he is a leader on the pitch. You don’t need to be vocal to be a leader.”

But a leader he is turning into anyway — a leader by example. How City could do with another one of those right now.