+€65m in market value
©Imago/Content stadium
While Chelsea fans would certainly be forgiven for ending this season with their head in their hands, following a rather subdued Premier League campaign and head coach Mauricio Pochettino electing to depart the club, there is one shining light in the Stamford Bridge squad and its name is Cole Palmer.
Signed from Manchester City for €47 million last summer, Palmer’s arrival surprised many despite Chelsea’s gung-ho approach to the transfer window. However, over the course of the last 10 months the young England midfielder has well and truly stunned the top-flight and led many to believe that the fee paid for his services now looks like something of a bargain.
That was only underlined this week, when Transfermark published its winner for the 23/24 Premier League player of the season. Although Palmer missed out on the prize to Man City star Phil Foden, the young Chelsea talent came a very close second. In fact, when we break down the share of votes allocated to each player, we find that Foden beat his compatriot by just 2.7 percent.
The rise of Cole Palmer this season
For Palmer, such fine margins are perhaps exactly why he opted to depart Pep Guardiola’s squad in the first place. As his performances for Chelsea have clearly showcased this season, the attacking midfielder is undoubtedly one of the best in his age range but perhaps falls just short of the miracles Foden continues to perform for Man City each and every week.
However, in many ways Palmer has stepped out from behind Foden’s shadow with a truly remarkable debut season at Chelsea and in no uncertain terms has outperformed not only the Man City star but all others in the Premier League. With 22 goals and 11 assists in 34 league games, no other player in the English top-flight bagged more goal contributions than the England international this season, beating Erling Haaland, Ollie Watkins and Mohamed Salah to the impressive feat.
This, undoubtedly, has been showcased in the player’s increasing market value over the course of the season. In Monday’s Premier League market value update the Chelsea midfielder featured front and centre due to his market value rising by €25m to take Palmer to a market value of €80m. No other Premier League player saw their market value rise by a higher value across the entire update. But Palmer’s achievements don’t stop there.
Considering the player’s relatively low profile before leaving Man City, Palmer arrived at Stamford Bridge with a market value of just €15m. As such, the 22-year-old talent’s market value has increased by an incredible €65m this season. Which is far more than any other player in the division, beating Manchester United prospect Kobbie Mainoo (+€49.2m) in second and Man City winger Jérémy Doku (+€37m) in third.
As such, Palmer has now finished his first senior career as the most valuable player at Chelsea, the second most valuable player in the world born in 2002, the fifth most valuable attacking midfielder in the world, the sixth most valuable player in the England national team and the ninth most valuable player in the Premier League. If he can do all of that in just one season, imagine what else he has in store for the years to come.