Cole Palmer will play Champions League football next season – whether he’s at Chelsea or not

Rory Jennings has claimed that Chelsea star Cole Palmer will play in the Champions League next season, be it with Chelsea or elsewhere.

Despite Chelsea’s recent struggles, Palmer has scored 14 goals and assisted six more in the Premier League this season, looking to match his impressive tally last campaign.

He ended the 2023/24 season with 22 goals and 11 assists, not far behind Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland for large parts of the season.

The former Manchester City academy star joined the Blues on transfer deadline day in September 2023 and has since become one of the world’s most valuable assets.

A move away from Chelsea will prove difficult, with the 22-year-old tied down until 2033 in one of football’s longest contracts.

But Blues broadcaster and talkSPORT co-host Jennings insists the England superstar will be ‘itching’ to play in the Champions League – with Chelsea currently fourth and clinging onto the final spot.

Hinting at a transfer that would send shockwaves through west London, Jennings said: “A player of Cole Palmer’s quality will be itching to play in the Champions League and if Chelsea aren’t in it… next season, Cole Palmer plays Champions League football.

“Whether that’s with Chelsea or not will depend on us qualifying, but Cole Palmer will be playing Champions League football.”

Watford legend and co-host Troy Deeney added that it was ‘fascinating’ to watch the saga unfold as Enzo Maresca’s side fight to hold onto a top four spot in the Premier League table.

Deeney said: “It’s a fascinating time to see because when I watched Brighton, it felt to me like a lot of those Chelsea players felt like that game was an irrelevance they didn’t really want to be there, they didn’t really have to run around.

“It felt like there was an entitlement that they feel that they should be there.”

Jennings suggested their attitude was a ‘Maresca thing’, referencing Chelsea’s performance in the League Cup against Newcastle at St James’ Park when they lost 2-0.

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Jennings also suggested that, unlike Maresca’s claims that Champions League qualification was ‘not a necessity’, he believed it was.

He added: “It’s appalling and we’ve got now we’ve got a situation where you’ve got Christopher Nkunku, who scored five goals in 30 odd Premier League games.

“He’s now gonna be our recognised striker, and if he isn’t, we’re relying on an 19-year-old Spanish kid [Marc Guiu] who’s played 3 Premier League games and hasn’t scored a goal.”

At Chelsea, Palmer has broken a number of records. In September, he became the first player in Premier League history to score four times in the first half of a match in a 4-2 victory at home to Brighton.

Three months later, he became the second-quickest Chelsea player to score 30 Premier League goals, behind Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Cole Palmer – Chelsea stats

Palmer has played 57 game in the top-flight since joining Chelsea

2023/24 Premier League: 22 goals, 11 assists

2024/25 Premier League so far: 14 goals, six assists

Honours

• England Men’s Player of the Year: 2023/24
• London Football Awards Men’s Young Player of the Year: 2024
• Chelsea Player of the Season: 2023/24
• Chelsea Player’s Player of the Season: 2023/24
• Premier League Young Player of the Season: 2023/24
• PFA Fans’ Player of the Year: 2023/24
• PFA Young Player of the Year: 2023/24

Against Tottenham in a 4-3 win over their London rivals, Palmer’s penalty brace gave him the best record in the league from the spot, having scored 12 out of 12 to beat Yaya Toure’s 11 out of 11.