Chelsea must give Cole Palmer the Eden Hazard treatment after 'game changer' verdict

Cole Palmer has taken the Premier League by storm at Chelsea in a way that only one other player has done over the past 20 years. That man was Eden Hazard, but Chelsea have a new ‘game changer’ on the block.

Since the start of 2023-24, Palmer has either scored or assisted for 44 goals – more than anyone else in the Premier League and even Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland, who has more goals with 37 to Palmer’s 28.

He has shown a knack for scoring important goals, but also breaking records. Palmer has finished a game with four-goal hauls on two occasions – something only Frank Lampard has managed in the Premier League in a blue shirt. His ‘poker’ against Brighton was the first time any player has scored four goals in the first half.

On Tuesday, Palmer was named England Player of the Year with only nine caps and two goals to his name. The youngster also took the PFA Young Player of the Year gong for his incredible debut season at Stamford Bridge.

What he is doing at the age of 22 is simply remarkable, considering less than two years ago he was a fringe player at City. Palmer has taken his frustration at a lack of playing time at the Etihad and channelled it into helping him realise his enormous potential.

The manner in which he single-handedly destroys teams is hauntingly similar to Hazard, who is widely recognised as one of Chelsea’s best foreign imports with 85 goals and 54 assists in 245 appearances.

But some might even say he is destined to surpass beyond Hazard’s extraordinary contributions – and the statistics prove it. Palmer’s 31 goals for Chelsea have come in his first 54 games overall, while it took Hazard over 110 appearances to reach that same tally.

Yet the brilliant Belgian’s individual magic was recognised by his team-mates, with Cesc Fabregas calling him the “most talented player” in their history back in 2019. Now, there’s competition for that label.

What Fabregas said next may cause some concern, however. The Spaniard acknowledged that while Hazard was the big name at Stamford Bridge, he deserved the chance to reach higher by playing with the best of the best in Spain.

“I played with him for five years. When I first joined Chelsea I said he’s our Messi. He proved me right,” Fabregas said at the time.

“Unfortunately I don’t think Chelsea at this moment can give Eden what he deserves, in terms of potentially winning everything and maybe the Ballon d’Or. At Chelsea there is a ceiling for him, and he can go so much higher at a club like Real Madrid.”

Months after those comments were made, Hazard joined Real Madrid in an initial £88million deal, which eventually exceeded £100m due to add-ons. Fabregas’ assessment of Palmer has similar echoes to how he described Hazard, labelling the playmaker a ‘game changer’ for the Blues.

“When someone is that special, when someone makes you see and feel that whatever happens in the team he is a game changer, I believe so [you can build a team around Palmer],” he said on the Planet Premier League podcast.

“It is fair to say it could be the right thing to do, even if as coaches we hate to say this kind of thing because we want to protect the team and the collective, but when you have someone that good and with such an impact on the pitch, I think the team see that themselves and they want Palmer to get on the ball as much as possible.”

The Blues are insured against losing Palmer in a similar scenario because he is tied down to an improved contract until 2033, while Palmer insists that he is happy in London after watching his stock rise at a rapid rate.

There is no imminent threat of losing him to Real Madrid or any other club like they did with Hazard and Chelsea want to keep it that way. The best method of doing so is heeding Fabregas’ words by building a team around him to get the best out of their ‘game changer’.