Why Cole Palmer won’t shine like last season – Paul Merson gives one reason why Cole Palmer won’t shine next season
Cole Palmer had an incredible first season with Chelsea, tallying 25 goals and dishing out 15 assists in all competitions.
Palmer was by far Chelsea’s greatest player last season, scoring 22 goals in the Premier League.
Paul Merson, a veteran at Arsenal, believes Cole Palmer won’t have the same influence this season since teams will be focusing on him.
“He’s had an unbelievable season and he is a good player but this season every [opposition] team talk is going to be ‘Stop Cole Palmer playing’,” the Arsenal legend said on Sky Sports.
“He’s got that now the whole time. And now you’re giving him a nine-year contract?
“I’m not sure [he will score 15 goals]. Last season he was unreal. This season he is marked.
“We’ve seen it a million times, like with [Emmanuel] Adebayor. He ripped it up at Arsenal, got a new contract and was marked.
“It’s going to be hard. If he gets 15 goals next season I’ll be like ‘wow, fair play to you’. 15 is a lot of goals.”
Paul Merson was also critical of Palmer’s new contract, slamming Chelsea over their policy for handing out extremely long deals to players.
“It can’t be a better deal for the club. They don’t know what they’re doing,” he added.
“I’m not being horrible but how can you tell what he [Palmer] is going [to be like] in nine years’ time.
“I like him but they’re giving these players six, seven, eight year contracts. Some of them don’t even play, don’t even get in the team. That’s one of the reasons Conor Gallagher’s going because he only got offered two years.
“You know [Joao] Cancelo, three years ago at Man City he took the game to another level. One year later he was literally gone from Man City.
“You can’t tell what these players are going to be like in six, seven years’ time.”