Chelsea legend Frank Lampard has now claimed that he was left wowed by the performance of one of the Blues in the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City.
He said during punditry for BBC Sport that he was really impressed particularly in the first half by one of their players for what he described as an ‘exceptional’ performance.
Chelsea were dumped out in the semi-finals after being defeated late on by City after Bernardo Silva found the net in the final moments.
The Blues had a heap of chances to put them out of sight of their opponents, with Nicolas Jackson in particular missing a number of great opportunities.
A lot of the talk before the game was on about how Cole Palmer would be getting on, with him coming up against his former side yet again.
Despite it not being quite the levels that Chelsea fans saw on Monday night last week against Everton, he still looked quite comfortably their best player on the pitch.
Lampard was another who was clearly impressed with what he saw, stating that he thought the 21-year-old was a cut above the rest in the first half.
He said: “Cole Palmer is playing at a different level at the moment, it is an exceptional level. When you talk about the areas between lines, someone who can turn and take that extra bit of time. His chance in the box was unreal.”
Palmer will be looking ahead to the summer and the potential opportunity to represent England at the European Championships.
He will be up against the likes of Phil Foden for a place in the side, with Micah Richards stating before the game that he believes the Chelsea man’s versatility could see Gareth Southgate look to him when selecting his side.