Mauricio Pochettino believes Cole Palmer will go into Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City on Saturday with nothing to prove to his former employers, insisting he is the right manager to help the 21-year-old continue his stunning ascendancy. (More Football News)
Palmer, who left Chelsea’s Wembley opponents in a £42.5million deal in the summer, is joint top scorer in the Premier League after his four goals in Monday’s 6-0 demolition of Everton moved him level wit💫h Cit🍬y’s Erling Haaland on 20 for the season.
He has netted an incredible seven times in the team’s last t𓆉wo home games, including a hat-trick in the breathless 4-3 win over Manchester United when two of his goals came in the 10th and 11th ♒minutes of stoppage time.
He previously scored from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of added time to snatch a po𝓀int in a 4-4 draw when City visited west London in N𒈔ovember.
Palmer has previously stated his decision to leave the champions – for whom he scored twice in August in thಌe Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup – was based on the belief he would get more first-team game time at Chelsea.
That decision has been thoroughly vindicated, with his performances for Mauricio Poc🅷hettino’s frustratingly inconsistent side placing him in the reckoning for the PFA Player of the Year award.
His odds on winning the award have been slashed by as much as half with some boo♌kmakers since his Everton 🃏haul.
But his manager said there was no p🍷ossibility the Engl🀅and international would face City with an axe to grind.
“It’s his first consistent season playing, we need to be careful because he’s still 𝓰young, he’s growing,” said Pochettino.
“He’s already played twice (against City) in the Premier League. He’s very grateful for Manchester City, with Pep Guar✅diola.🌊 He always talks very highly of them.
“He’s not the type of player that has something inside (to prove). He understood perfectly that for different reasons he wanted to prove himself in an⛄ot♛her club.
“He’s not the type of person to wants to ꦉprove something against his former club.”
Prior to joining Chelsea, Pal🦩mer had played only 19 senior league games spread over three seasons, 🙈and had not scored in the Premier League.
Yet he is now a genuine contender to deprive his former team-mate Ha𝔍aland of the Golden Boot won by the Norwegian last season.
There is also the growinℱg prospect of his being selected in Gareth 🎃Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024 in Germany this summer.
“He has to absorb the pressure to play in the Premier League consistently,♓” said Pochettino, who previously enjoyed success at Tottenham stewarding young talents though their early years, including England captain Harry Kane.
“It’s about the demands in his private life. He is top scorer. He maybe needs to pay attention to different things than before. That’s going to have an influence on how he is going to prepare himself,♑ how he’s going to rest and going to sleep, how he spends his energy.
“We need to be careful. We have the experience to manage this type of thing, when a young kid becomes a big star. Why is he not performing in💃 a few months? Because his life has changed. He needs to lear💯n from this experience that is completely different to the past.”
