Cole Palmer IS the best player in the Premier League, Jamie Carragher insists – as he compares Chelsea star’s impact to five-time Champions League winner

Jamie Carragher believes Chelsea boss Cole Palmer is currently the best player in the Premier League and believes he also deserved the title last season.

Palmer became the first player to score four times in the first half of a top-flight match after putting Brighton to the sword at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

The forward has made a flying start this season and also impressed last year, having scored 27 goals and provided 15 assists in 48 appearances.

Since joining from his boyhood club Manchester City last summer in a deal worth around £42 million, 22-year-old Palmer has not looked back and Carragher has even likened his impact to a five-time Champions League winner.

The pundit also admitted he felt the England man was the standout performer in the Premier League in 2023/24, despite giving the award to Phil Foden.

Cole Palmer is the best player in the Premier League, Jamie Carragher insists

Palmer scored four goals in the Blues’ 4-2 win against Brighton on Saturday

Speaking on Monday Night Football, he said: ‘Last season I was a bit reluctant to say he was the best player in the Premier League. I actually felt like he was, but as Chelsea hadn’t had such a great season I ended up going for Foden.

‘But inside I felt he was the best player in the Premier League. If he continues this season, I think he will be the best player in the Premier League. At Manchester City he does not play with the absolute elite.

‘When I look at him now and think of the last player I rated as the best in the Premier League who didn’t play for one of the teams that were going for the title, it was probably Gareth Bale.

‘At Tottenham he was the best player in the Premier League for a few years, while his team was just competing for the Champions League.’

Carragher went on to explain that he felt sorry for Foden, as Palmer had stormed in to take a position in the Three Lions’ attacking ranks.

He added: ‘He (Foden) never really won that position in England. Players have come out of nowhere and taken his place.

‘At one point it felt like he was going to be the right winger, and then Saka comes in. Then it’s okay, he’s number 10. Jude Bellingham enters. Then you think we’ll get it into him somewhere, he’s left. footful – Cole Palmer comes along.

‘I love Phil Foden but Cole Palmer needs to be in the England team. For me there is no better player in the Premier League in the last 15 months at the moment.”

Carragher says Palmer was also the star of the previous campaign

The expert even compared Palmer to five-time Champions League winner Gareth Bale

Palmer hasn’t looked back since moving from Manchester City to Stamford Bridge

Despite his sparkling performances, Palmer has remained firmly on the ground, a trait that blues boss Enzo Maresca believes will serve his talisman well during his career.

“He’s a top player,” Maresca said. ‘And the most important thing from the foregoing is that young players change very quickly in football these days.

“They score one goal, and they think they’ve already… Cole has scored a lot of goals, made a lot of assists, he’s a top player, but he’s never changed.

“This is the most important thing.”