With Cole Palmer, it's not about the numbers and it never has been. But when the numbers are as good as his have been for over 15 months they are impossible to ignore.
In 2024 alone he has scored 28 times, assisting another 15. It's not about the numbers, we said, but seriously, feast your eyes on these. Palmer is already above Mason Mount, Juan Mata, Kai Havertz, and Tammy Abraham for goals scored at Chelsea having played 73, 133, and 77 matches fewer, respectively, at the time of writing. He surpassed all of them with even more room to spare.
Only the late Jimmy Greaves has more than 11 goals for the club at a better rate than Palmer's 0.58 per match - and those came over 60 years ago. Palmer's 28 goals this calendar year for Chelsea (so far, he still has four matches to add to the tally) is more than Christian Pulisic, Michael Ballack, Roberto Di Matteo, Pat Nevin, Hernan Crespo, Alvaro Morata, Daniel Sturridge, Timo Werner, Andriy Shevchenko, Raheem Sterling (to date), Arjen Robben, and Damien Duff managed in their entire careers at Stamford Bridge.
This is besides the point, though. Palmer is still about so much more than penalties, Panenkas, and whatever story digits can tell. Assists, in particular, are a pretty pointless use of metrics.
Palmer, for example, beat four Tottenham players in the build-up to Enzo Fernandez's comeback-completing goal on Sunday against Tottenham, before shooting. His effort took a wild deflection as it was blocked, landed at the feet of Fernandez, and then Chelsea ran off to celebrate.
No assist there, but if Palmer had launched play back to Robert Sanchez and he had scored directly from his own box, an assist would be recorded. In the same vein, maybe the best pass Palmer has played for Chelsea was his seeking twister of a needle through Newcastle in a 2-1 win earlier this season.
Coming deep, Palmer turned inside his own half, faced the West Stand at Stamford Bridge before screwing his foot around the ball to find the onrushing Pedro Neto. in a blindspot for the entirety of that corridor in London. It left Chelsea in a two-on-one with Nicolas Jackson scoring. No assist.
That is why Palmer is even more impressive than figures can show. It is not just his 16 goal contributions in 15 Premier League matches this season that is why he is in the running for Fans' Footballer of the Year 2024 - which you can vote for down below of via this link.
Instead, it is maybe just how much Palmer has continued to develop and evolve his game under the radar that is most impressive. This time last season, Palmer had scored five goals for Chelsea. All but one had come from the spot. His tally of 22 for the 2023/24 campaign was boosted by nine penalties.
It is certainly a skill to be as calm, 'cold', and consistent from 12 yards as Palmer has been - nobody who has scored more than him has a better record in league history without missing - but it did raise questions over how much he would be able to contribute if penalties for the team dropped as expected for his second year. Prior to the win in north London he had still recorded nine goals (all from open play) and six assists. Not bad.
His ability to mould games to his will has been pretty clear from the start. With hindsight it is easy to say, but even the substitute introductions under Mauricio Pochettino on the right-wing in September last year were an indication, in some ways, of what was to come.
Being present in the ground for his first start - a 1-0 Carabao Cup win, rounded off with a delightful nut-meg assist - was like watching a player gliding. Palmer floated across the pitch with his long-frame, thin limbs, but gorgeous touch.
On that day he wasn't flashing, didn't show off, but couldn't be closed down or approached. The ball went before the opponents arrived and Palmer followed it into space in a flash. It wasn't the sort of performance to be widely lauded over but set the tone for what was to follow.
The volume since is immense and the impact is practically unheard of. When Palmer gets into games he doesn't just accept it, he owns the play. It is something Enzo Maresca has asked Noni Madueke to do more of.
"The moment he starts to score or assist and is happy, he starts to drop a little bit," the manager said last week. Palmer, in comparison, has at least two goal contributions in a Premier League match 13 times from 48 appearances. It means that if Palmer scores or sets up a teammate, once in every four he will get at least another further down the line.
Even when not at his best, he pressed better than he played on the ball against Aston Villa, Palmer can still walk away with a goal and an assist to show for an afternoon's work. It is the sort of attitude that Mohamed Salah has shown relentlessly at Liverpool. That, considering the level of output, is the pedestal he is on.
Eden Hazard is a natural point for Chelsea supporters to turn to but he only once showed the same sheer determination and cold-heartedness to totally obliterate teams, and that came in his final season. It is not to his slight because Hazard also did things with a football that others simply didn't and couldn't.
Palmer, then, is a bit of a blend of the two. He is unerring in the drive to rack up match-winning performances both with beauty - maybe even more so than Salah, who can be mechanical rather than elegant in his imperiousness - and straight edges. Unlike Hazard, undoubtedly totally unplayable in a way different to Palmer and Salah, Palmer wears that emotion and frustration more visibly.
Take his thunderbolt against Villa. Without a goal or assist in three matches - quite staggeringly, the joint longest run of this kind he has been on at Chelsea - Palmer showed genuine relief to have ended this so-called drought when he fired in from distance.
Chelsea players celebrate with Cole Palmer after scoring against Aston Villa
Cole Palmer left his Chelsea teammates stunned by his latest piece of brilliance (Image: Chris Lee - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Wheeling away with jubilation at his own brilliance once more, Palmer also looked like someone who felt he had a point to prove. He had struggled against Manchester United before the international break before being less effective and hampered by a niggle for the visit of Arsenal one week later.
Palmer's ability to 'do it' in big matches was under the microscope. Villa may not be a top-six side this season or anywhere near the threat they were last term but a weight lifted when Palmer smashed his goal in here. Used from the start three days later at Southampton he poached a goal from Christopher Nkunku as well.
Palmer is now on one of those streaks where he can't be stopped whether that is being man-marked or tactically shut out. From being a player nobody knew loads about as a senior pro to now commanding total attention and game plans to deny, Palmer is the best creator, finisher, and driver of play at Chelsea.
His record suggests he's among the best in the Premier League. Everything else says there's more to come.