Chelsea star is now more vital than Palmer after being grilled by Carragher

Sometimes, in the world of football, players that make big money moves are judged through an unfair lense, purely because of their transfer fee. Chelsea know that all too well.

This can often come back to bite many pundits, as they make bold shouts about players being a “flop” too early, only for them to prove people wrong, find their feet and excel.

Teams such as Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, and even Arsenal have been known to spend big fees on players, meaning we have seen this a fair amount in recent years.

Some big examples of this in the past few years are Jack Grealish, David Raya, and Marc Cucurella. But Jamie Carragher is the latest pundit to be subject to this, after a comment he made in August 2023.

What Carragher said about Caicedo

Moises Caicedo joined Chelsea from Brighton for a British record transfer fee of around £115m, signing an eight-year deal for the Blues.

Carragher, whilst covering the Chelsea vs West Ham game on Sky Sports, labelled Caicedo’s debut a “nightmare”, as he came from the bench, giving away a penalty late in the game.

Many fans took to social media after this, brandishing the mega-money man as a “flop” already, but the 22-year-old midfielder bounced back, having a brilliant second half of the season, and becoming one of Chelsea’s most important players under Mauricio Pochettino.

Caicedo made 48 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions last season, scoring once, providing four assists, and contributing to 11 clean sheets in his 3,899 minutes played. Perhaps his highlight of the season came with his halfway-line finish against Bournemouth on the last day, as Chelsea won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

Caicedo 2024/25 impact so far

Under new manager Enzo Maresca, Caicedo is already showing how important he is, playing as a holding midfielder, but having a number of different responsibilities during a game. Maresca will often invert one of his fullbacks alongside the Ecuadorian, giving the pair a lot of the build-up responsibilities.

Perhaps his biggest responsibility is to protect Chelsea in transition, mopping up danger between the lines. The 22-year-old is averaging 2.76 tackles per 90 this season, compared to just 1.13 last campaign, showing his importance in this aspect of the game.

With the consistent injury issues of Roméo Lavia, who also signed in the summer of 2023 for a fee of around £58m, Caicedo’s importance has only been amplified this season, especially seen in his performance against West Ham, where he won ten of his 12 ground duels, and made a whopping eight tackles in the game.

Maresca clearly sees Caicedo as one of his key players, having already started seven of Chelsea’s nine games in all competitions, totalling 637 minutes this season. This is more than the 555 minutes of Cole Palmer, which begs the question, who is more important for the Blues?

Caicedo vs Palmer

Palmer has already scored six and provided four assists in his eight appearances, coming off the back of his stellar 2023/24 campaign, where the 22-year-old scored 27 goals and provided 15 assists in 48 games across all competition.

The English midfielder/attacker is coming off the back of a Premier League record-breaking game, where he scored four goals in the first half, the first time this has ever been done in Premier League history.

The problem when comparing these two players is that their stats reflect their role in the team, making it hard to draw comparisons as to which is contributing most in their role. Caicedo winning 4.14 tackles per 90, and making 1.72 interceptions, is allowing Chelsea to regain possession, kick-start attacks, and protect their own goal, allowing them to concede fewer.

Palmer, on the other hand, is the main source of creation for Maresca’s side, making 3.04 key passes per 90, taking 3.04 shots per 90, and, of course, contributing with goals and assists, scoring 1.07 per 90, and assisting 0.71 per 90.

The argument to be made for Caicedo being more important to the team is the fact he has more touches on the ball (66.7 touches per 90, compared to Palmer’s 48.4), and has the responsibility of progressing play into those attack-minded players, who can then work their magic.

If the former Brighton man wasn’t winning the ball back as often as he is, playing forwards, and allowing stars like Palmer to shine, everything would fall flat, and Chelsea would struggle to control games, or even generate attacks.

This isn’t to say other Chelsea players haven’t had brilliant starts to the season, as Levi Colwill is another that has really impressed for Maresca at the start of this new season, being given more on-ball responsibilities, allowing him to play progressive passes through the lines, and showcase his passing ability.

Since the arrival of Maresca, Colwill is averaging ten more passes attempted per 90, 3.67 progressive passes per 90, and more long balls per 90, showing the license he now has to fully utilise his passing range to benefit the side.

Whilst the argument for who is Chelsea’s most important player could be made for both Colwill and, of course, Palmer, especially after scoring four goals on the weekend, Caicedo is currently the Blues’ most important player, as without him, Maresca’s side would struggle in all phases of the game, which is telling of the impact the Ecuadorian has on the team, week in, week out.