Alan Pardew was left amazed by what he saw from Chelsea star Cole Palmer in his final performance before the international break.
Chelsea have gone into this two-week break fresh off Sunday’s 4-2 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side are going through a pretty rough season overall, but they’ve sealed another return to Wembley Stadium for next month’s FA Cup semi-final versus Manchester City.
Cole Palmer, 21, was once again a standout performer for the Blues in the Leicester victory a couple of days ago.
It’s now 14 goals in 34 Chelsea appearances for the attacker after he tucked in left-footed finish on Sunday. Also, he’s got 12 assists this campaign after an exquisite backheel pass set up a Carney Chukwuemeka goal.
Alan Pardew has waxed lyrical about Chelsea’s Palmer after his weekend masterclass in the cup.
In particular, he was stunned by the 21-year-old playmaker’s genius assist late on.
“Cole Palmer’s bit of ability for the third goal [against Leicester] was outstanding. That’s why he’s included in the England squad. He’s been terrific for Chelsea, probably their player of the season so far. Let’s see how that unfolds,” Pardew told talkSPORT (7:53pm, 17 March).
Elsewhere, speaking via Chelsea’s official app (2:35pm, 17 March), Jason Cundy called Palmer a “genius” for his assist in the FA Cup against Leicester.
Outstanding Cole Palmer
Palmer’s consistently doing things on a football pitch this season that marks him out as head and shoulders above the rest of his Chelsea teammates.
The right-winger’s usually central to his team’s good attacking play, whether that’s scoring or creating goals.
If you reflect on the fact Palmer cost £40 million to sign from rivals Man City last summer (Sky Sports), he’s surely got to go down as one of the club’s very best signings of recent years.