Lionel Messi comment from Cole Palmer's old manager now makes perfect sense

Mauricio Pochettino drew comparisons between Cole Palmer and Lionel Messi when he was manager at Chelsea – and the England star has proven those comments are far from wild.

Palmer broke through the youth system of Manchester City under Pep Guardiola in 2020, but with a talent-filled squad, he never really had a proper look in ahead of the likes of Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne. The now 22-year-old departed the Etihad in September last year in a £40million deal, having played just 41 games across all competitions for the Sky Blues.

However, the English attacker was massively utilised by Pochettino upon arriving at Stamford Bridge, playing across the front and in attacking midfield for Chelsea, showing his versatility and huge potential. For the fruits of his labour, Palmer finished the 2023/24 Premier League campaign with 22 goals and 11 assists to his name from 33 games for Chelsea, as the Blues rescued a dismal first half to the campaign to achieve a respectable sixth-place finish.

Palmer, though, had his patchy moments, as evident in the Blues' FA Cup campaign – with one game in particular posing questions pertaining to his natural capabilities in front of goal. The Blues were held to a goalless draw by Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge in the fourth round back in January – a game in which Palmer received widespread criticism for missing a number of big chances.

When asked at the time about Palmer's failure to score against Villa, Pochettino took the opportunity to draw comparison between Palmer and compatriot Messi. He responded: "No, I think he cannot score in every single game. If he did, we should maybe not call him Cole Palmer, we should call him maybe Leo [Messi]."

Palmer was just 21 last season but led the way for Chelsea. At that same age in the 2008/09 campaign for Barcelona, Messi had his first truly world-class year in football, scoring 23 La Liga goals and a whopping 38 in total across all competitions.

Given how close Pochettino viewed Palmer in line with the Barcelona icon, it showed how much faith he had in the Chelsea star. And that faith was repaid through the rest of the season, and could have helped save the manager his job if the rest of the team had performed better across the campaign.

Continuing the comparison to Messi, Pochettino added: "No, it is not about his position – and his potential is massive. It's just sometimes you score or not. Sometimes you have better nights but he is doing well. He is a player who can play in different positions and you can see and feel that we never talk about his performances because he is always doing really good.

"It's just that sometimes he scores or doesn't score, but he always finds amazing chances in the game."

Pochettino was ultimately replaced by Italian mastermind Enzo Maresca, who has also managed to get the best out of Palmer.

The youngster managed to bag two goals and four assists in his opening five games of the 2024/25 season under Maresca, before putting on a record-breaking display against Brighton in late September. Palmer was unstoppable as the two teams met at Stamford Bridge, bagging four goals in the first half of the game as Chelsea ran out 4-2 victors.

Maresca was full of praise for his highly-talented attacking midfielder in the wake of the result, going as far as claiming that Palmer was the best player in the Premier League.

Speaking after the game, Maresca said: "He scored four but he also could have scored two or three more. It’s important he stays hungry, ambitious and I know him from many years ago with the under-23s at City and with the first team. What he was as a boy is exactly what he was three or four years ago.

"Goals, assists, best player of the Premier League – this doesn’t change the way he is. He’s a humble guy and for me it’s the most important thing. He’s a top player and today in football young players can change quick. Cole scores goals and never changes and this is the most important thing.

"He’s special player, he’s a simple and humble guy. He doesn’t need to tell people how good he is because you can see it clearly."

Palmer will hope to continue his remarkable run in the Premier League – having scored 11 times and assisted six goals in 17 league appearances prior to Christmas Day – when Chelsea travel to Portman Road on Monday (December 30) to face Ipswich Town.

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