Chelsea have assembled such an exciting crop of youngsters recently to make their squad. Premier League legend Rio Ferdinand is a massive fan of one player in particular.
The Blues should take huge confidence going into the new season after last year’s success, where they finished fourth in the Premier League and won both the Club World Cup and Conference League.
Enzo Maresca’s target is another top-four finish during his second season as Chelsea’s head coach, but it feels like the external expectation is much bigger.
Even though the majority of Chelsea’s key players are yet to reach their prime years, it does feel like they will go into the new season as a much stronger group because of their recent success together. Interestingly, Michael Owen called Chelsea big outsiders for the Premier League title ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
Rio Ferdinand working as a pundit at the 2024 Champions League final.
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Rio Ferdinand would pay to watch Cole Palmer
During a conversation on Rio Ferdinand Presents, co-host Joel Baya hailed the brilliance of Chelsea’s Cole Palmer. He said: “Ladies and gentlemen, Cole Palmer is my favourite player in the Premier League.”
In response, Rio Ferdinand delivered a glowing verdict on the 23-year-old attacking midfielder, adding he would pay to watch the Blues star.
Ferdinand said on his channel: “He would be up there for me as well… [Mohamed] Salah is the better player and he’s done all this. There are a couple of other players you put that are better and have done more, but this player would make me pay to go and watch football more. I would pay to go and watch Cole Palmer probably before anyone in the game in England at the moment… There is not a player in the Premier League I would rather pay to watch more than him.”
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The impact that Palmer has made since he left Manchester City to join Chelsea two years ago has been truly breathtaking.
Highest rated players across the last two Premier League seasons:
🥇 7.55 – Bukayo Saka
🥈 7.44 – Mohamed Salah
🥉 7.38 – Cole Palmer
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Of course, Palmer has become a giant name in the sport because of his incredible attacking contributions. In 97 Blues appearances across all competitions, he’s scored 43 goals and created 29 assists.
On top of that, the England international plays with a creativity and a flair that is a bit of a throwback.
Paul Pogba massively rates Palmer, naming him as one of his favourite current players. Meanwhile, Robert Sanchez hailed teammate Palmer as the world’s best after his heroics to help Chelsea win the Club World Cup during the summer.
Cole Palmer poses after Chelsea FC v Paris Saint-Germain: Final - FIFA Club World Cup 2025
Photo by Justin Setterfield – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Cole Palmer may be needed on the right
While Enzo Maresca preferred to use Palmer as a central No.10 for the majority of last season, we suspect there may be times in the upcoming campaign when he deploys him in wide areas.
Under Mauricio Pochettino’s management, Palmer was outstanding in his first Chelsea season on the right wing. In fact, he did the same thing again in the Club World Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain in June.
We predict there will be a lot of rotation in the wide areas because youngsters Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian will need time to adapt to their new home. Thankfully, Chelsea’s ace up their sleeve is that Palmer can shift across when needed to thrive as an inverted winger.