Manchester United legend Paul Scholes fears Cole Palmer is working in a comfort zone at Chelsea and desires a tougher environment if he’s to fulfil his potential.
The England international’s form has mirrored that of a side that find themselves within the midst of a dire run of results which culminated in Sunday’s limp 1-0 defeat at Arsenal.
Palmer missed the sport as a consequence of a muscle injury and is more likely to pull out of international duty having been named in Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad last week.
It’s, perhaps, no surprise that Palmer has been unable to keep up the standards he set over the course of his first 18 months as a Chelsea player.
Having been deemed surplus to requirements by Manchester City, Palmer quickly established himself as one in every of the important thing components of Chelsea’s rebuilding project before impressing with the Three Lions at Euro 2024.
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Palmer began the present campaign in similarly outstanding form, but the burden of expectancy, allied to the variety of minutes he has been asked to play, appears to have taken its toll on the 22-year-old in recent games.
Nonetheless, speaking on the newest episode of The Overlap, ex-Manchester United and England midfielder Scholes argued that Palmer actually must be ‘challenged more’ – even when which means moving club.
In response to Scholes, Chelsea of their current guise will not be giving any kind of indication that they’re ‘desperate’ to lift major trophies.
‘I’ve felt for some time that for Cole Palmer, it’s almost been too easy for him to play in that Chelsea team,’ Scholes said.
‘He knows he’ll play every week and be one of the best player. I feel he needs difficult more, and I don’t get the impression that they [Chelsea] are eager to win anything.’
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Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, meanwhile, believes he has seen clear signs of ‘frustration’ from Palmer this season and feels the Premier League Young Player of the Season should perhaps be considering his options.
‘I commentated on Brighton versus Chelsea within the league a month ago. I’m a giant fan of Cole Palmer, and he played two passes early on, however the longer the sport went on, you could possibly see the frustration together with his teammates,’ Carragher said.
‘It jogged my memory of Stevie [Gerrard] at Liverpool at times, because he was so significantly better than everyone else and he got frustrated.
‘Stevie was a neighborhood player, but he was never going to depart, whereas Cole Palmer isn’t.
‘That is when I am going back to those eight-year contracts, and whether or not they are good for the club and players.
‘Should you’re Cole Palmer, who’s got six or seven years left on his deal, and he needs to be playing for a team trying to win the Champions League, how does he get out?’
While the severity of Palmer’s muscle injury stays uncertain, Enzo Maresca is hopeful of getting his star man back fit and available for Chelsea’s clash with Tottenham after the international break.
‘I don’t think so [that Palmer will be available for England] to be honest because his injury was from yesterday’s [Saturday’s] session,’ the Italian told reporters after Chelsea’s defeat to Arsenal.
‘I hope he could be back for our next game, but we want to attend for a scan.
‘We don’t wish players injury, but probably in Cole’s case on this moment it’s going to give him some rest, physically and mentally, it might be good.’
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