Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been told he made a mistake in letting Cole Palmer leave after another fine display for Chelsea.
Chelsea emerged narrow 1-0 victors over Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon to return to winning ways after a disappointing defeat to Middlesbrough in the week.
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Palmer proved the difference for ChelseaCredit: Getty
And Mauricio Pochettino can thank Palmer for the win, scoring his ninth Premier League goal of the season – and his fifth from the penalty spot.
But it was his pass to release Raheem Sterling that led to the penalty – a brilliant reversed pass that left Fulham defenders with whiplash.
Palmer signed from City in the summer for £40million in a surprise move late in the transfer window but he has proved to be one of Chelsea’s most important players.
And Guardiola, who told the 21-year-old that he must stay or leave permanently, has been told he might have made a mistake in letting Palmer go.
Arsenal legend Martin Keown even compared the youngster to City star Kevin de Bruyne for his passing ability.
Speaking on commentary for talkSPORT: “Palmer played a De Bruyne-like pass, it’s the kind of pass we hadn’t seen in this game yet.
“Palmer sees these opportunities on the pitch. We talk about a helicopter vision of the game from De Bruyne, and I think Palmer has that as well.
“I think Palmer is the one young player here who sees himself with that calmness. It was never in doubt [scoring the penalty], he’s so confident in front of goal.
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Palmer had a fine game for Chelsea yet again
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Palmer is second only to Jude Bellingham in total goal contributions from Under-21 players in Europe’s top five leagues this season
“It’s been a game where Chelsea have totally dominated but haven’t shown any composure, but there was plenty on view from Palmer there. They should call him Cold Palmer.
“Palmer’s statistics are phenomenal – there’s only Jude Bellingham ahead of him as an Under-21 player throughout Europe, it’s incredible and he’s done it without us really noticing.
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“He’s icy cool. When you see him take the penalty you can see him sort of going, ‘Fantastic, this is my moment, give us the ball’ – a lot of other players would be shirking that responsibility.
“Would you say Pep got this wrong? Should he have allowed him to come here to Chelsea?
“But it’s just as well he came here, because if he didn’t come to Chelsea you wonder where they might be this season, because he’s the player doing everything, pulling all the strings, and at such a young man playing with a nice arrogance.
“It’s only Man City, really, who can allow a player of this calibre to go and leave their club and it not affect their performances. He could rescue Chelsea’s season this year.”
Palmer has scored some vital goals for Chelsea already this season, even including against his former side City in a frantic 4-4 draw.
In the 95th minute, the England Under-21 international stepped up to convert a nail-biting penalty to give his new side a point against his old pals.
And he was the main man on Saturday once again as Chelsea claimed all three points and made it three wins in a row in the Premier League for the Blues.
It has put them three points behind sixth-placed West Ham in the table as they look to put a poor start to the season behind them.
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