Almost all Premier League fans have been talking about him lately, with the 21-year-old Cole Palmer breaking into the eyes of football lovers with his goals and performances. As the team's designated penalty executioner at a young age, he had already made a number of stoppage-time contributions to Chelsea before the "scramble" against Everton, including a draw with his parent club Manchester City and a win over Manchester United.
He is calm and domineering on the field, but he is actually a quiet and introverted teenager off the field, born and raised in Manchester, he has loved Manchester United since he was a child, and chose Manchester City rationally for practical considerations, and originally did not want to leave his parent team, Guardiola made a decision that made him have to go. Coming to Chelsea to give myself a chance, I didn't expect to be able to fly high in a short period of time.
'I don't want to leave Manchester City'
'Manchester City have been a part of my life for 15 years, starting when I was six years old. When Cole Palmer said goodbye to Manchester City, he started on his social media account. Speaking to the media afterwards, he said, "At first I didn't want to leave, I said: 'I want to go out for a year and then be better prepared to be promoted to the first team because I didn't play many minutes [last season]. But Pep Guardiola said: 'You stay or you get sold,' and then, yes, I was sold. ”
'If I had given Cole Palmer the same minutes as Phil Foden at the beginning, he would have stayed but I couldn't do that, it's my responsibility. Why? Because I had Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden in the squad, I chose the other players at that moment. Pep Guardiola tried to leave with Riyad Mahrez and increased his chances of playing this season in an attempt to keep Cole Palmer, but was rejected.
Watching Cole Palmer's performances at Chelsea, Guardiola praised: 'We know he has the quality and the impact he's shown this season is huge, and it's not just goals and assists, it's ability. He's a big threat to Chelsea, and you won't forget it in the future, he looked easy to do, but he wasn't. ”
"I love Manchester United and Wayne Rooney, but ......"
Cole Palmer's grandfather, Sterry Cole, was from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and Nevis. Kitts and Nevis), whose family moved to the UK in the 1950s. Born in Manchester in 2002, Cole Palmer has loved football since he was a child, former England captain Wayne Rooney was his childhood idol, always wearing a Manchester United shirt, "When I was growing up, I watched all the football shows and only Rooney was in my head. He's been a football hero for me since I was a kid. ”
Even if he is concerned about Manchester United, when it comes to realistic choices, Cole Palmer has sensibly joined the Blue Moon after being discovered by Manchester City's scouts. Grandfather Sterry Cole said that when Cole Palmer first arrived at Manchester City, he would always wear a Manchester United shirt or shirt under his shirt, "He was a Manchester United fan, but the conditions and training facilities were better at Manchester City, and he was able to play his talent better. ”
Cole Palmer's grandfather pointed out that "his support for Manchester United has never been merciful, and he has often knocked them down when Manchester City face Manchester United in junior competitions. Since childhood, he has been accustomed to separating reason from emotion, and Cole Palmer's mental qualities may have been slowly developed in this way. Earlier in the Premier League, Cole Palmer scored twice in the final stages of stoppage time to lead Chelsea to a 4-3 win over his favourite clubs, Manchester United.
"My father, who is afraid of the cold, takes me to the park every day to play football"
Like many professional footballers, Cole Palmer would like to thank his dad, Jermaine, who loves football, "We go to the park every day to play football no matter what the weather is, and my dad's family is from St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean, and he hates going out in the cold, but he does that for me." ”
A former Sunday amateur league player, Jermaine discovered his talent when his son was about 4 years old and has been instilling a love for football ever since, with Cole Palmer writing in The Players' Tribune in 2022 in The Players' Tribune, Dead Mad: "He would put me on a football bag on the sidelines and put on his coat. I will remember every moment - fierce interceptions, yelling, arguing. ”
Cole Palmer can't remember any footage of Dad's game after a serious knee injury, and laughs: "He's repairing dental equipment, and if you listen to him, you'd think he'd been in the Premier League for 20 years. "I don't want to admit to him that my dad taught me everything about football when I was growing up." He was Pep before I met Pep. "Every word reflects the deep relationship between Cole Palmer and his son, and also the struggles that no one can see behind his success at Chelsea.
"I know what I can do, and this season is still beyond my imagination"
Cole Palmer has been in his first season at Chelsea and has been in impressive form – 25 goals and 13 assists in 41 appearances in all competitions, including 20 goals and nine assists in the Premier League alone, tying Haaland for the top scorer and assists at the top of the list, even he didn't expect it, "I know what I'm capable of, but it's beyond my imagination. ”
One of the factors that attracted him to Chelsea was manager Mauricio Pochettino's ability to develop young players, with Cole Palmer praising him: 'He's a top manager and now I understand why people say that. He continued: 'I came to Chelsea just to play football and that's all I wanted to do. It's crazy to play last game, to put in a performance like that and then to get an England call-up. ”
"For some reason, as soon as I got on the field, I was reborn"
In November last year, Chelsea played Manchester City at home in the Premier League, and in five minutes of stoppage time, Cole Palmer calmly scored a penalty to lead the 4-4 level, and Stamford Bridge shook the whole stadium, Cole Palmer shrugged his shoulders and celebrated with a nonchalant face after scoring a goal for his parent team, which became an unforgettable scene for fans. His confidence and liveliness on the pitch are impressive.
He scored nine penalty kicks for Chelsea in the Premier League this season, and together with his four goals in Manchester City's youth team, he hit all 13 times in his career, so why is he so good at shooting penalties? "I'm a very calm and relaxed person, and if you ask my teammates, they'll say the same. I just put the ball down and kicked it into the net. Against Everton, Cole Palmer remained unmoved in the face of two teammates competing for shots, first patiently waiting for captain Conor Gallagher to negotiate with Noni Madueke, ready to shoot before the main shot and then single-handedly pushing away Nicholas Jackson who was trying to steal the ball, and then calmly scoring in.
Off the pitch, he's a different person, "I'm a quiet person, I like to be alone, I don't interact with other people, but as soon as I get on the field, it changes, it's like flipping a switch, and I don't know why." I love playing and there's a different kind of pressure. Off the pitch I don't want everybody to look at me and talk to me. Indeed, Cole Palmer, who had a lot of expressions during the competition, had almost the same expression in his usual photos, he looked at the camera with a stiff expression, and he did not smile when he received the award.
"Leaving the place where you grew up, the difficulties that you can't see"
The young man who was impressive on the pitch was an introverted teenager in private, and what he couldn't see on live TV was the unaccustomed feeling of leaving Manchester for the first time in his life, and he admitted that it was difficult to adjust off the pitch, "I don't think everybody can see it, they think I'm doing on the pitch and everything will be going well." But it was difficult to be away from my family and from Manchester, where I had always lived. ”
"Little things like when I come home after practice and can't see my parents. If something happens about football, you can't tell your dad and see what he thinks. Of course I could call him, but it's no longer the same. That's the kind of thing to look at friends and family. Now there are more calls. Cole Palmer remains optimistic in the midst of hardship, "It's good for me to be here, and living alone away from my parents helps me grow a little bit." ”
Cole Palmer was once again disappointing in his first season at Chelsea, getting minutes of playing that he couldn't get at Manchester City, and he was a ray of hope for the Blues as a disappointing performance overall. Cole Palmer could even shine on the European Championship stage with an England shirt this summer.