Cole Palmer was meant to be England’s great World Cup hope – but Chelsea talisman faces uphill battle to prove himself to Thomas Tuchel
Despite his incredible breakthrough season at Chelsea where he provided an outrageous 42 goal contributions in all competitions, Palmer was largely restricted to a watching brief at Euro 2024 in Germany as Sir Gareth Southgate afforded him as few as 145 minutes of action across five games.
In the fleeting moments when he was on the pitch, there is little doubt that Palmer was one of England’s most impactful players. In just 10 minutes against the Netherlands in the semi-finals, it was Palmer who played the through-ball that dissected the Dutch defence to find Ollie Watkins, who did the rest with an excellent finish from the angle.
That should really have been enough to guarantee him a bigger involvement in the final, but notoriously pragmatic Southgate stood by the ineffective Phil Foden in attack against Spain, while Kobbie Mainoo formed part of a more conservative midfield three alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham. Inexplicably kept on the bench until the 70th minute with England 1-0 down, Palmer made an instant impact, firing an unstoppable effort into the bottom corner to equalise just three minutes after his introduction.
The Three Lions, of course, would go on to suffer a heart-breaking late defeat, but from an individual perspective it felt as though we were witnessing the dawn of Palmer’s superstardom in an England shirt. However, things haven’t yet panned out that way.
