Chelsea lead race to sign “one of the world’s best 10s”

While they have faced plenty of criticism for it and made a few mistakes along the way, Chelsea have built a seriously exciting team over the last few years.

Enzo Maresca has already led them to Conference League and Club World Cup glory in the space of a couple of months, and will surely be launching a Premier League challenge next season as well.

Yet, while the team is full of talented players, it’s still apparent that Cole Palmer is the most important of all, having managed to rack up a tally of 18 goals and 14 assists in 52 games last season.

When the Englishman is playing well, it’s often the case that the team is also playing well, so fans should be excited about reports linking them to an international who’d be a dream teammate for the former Manchester City gem.

Chelsea target dream teammate for Cole Palmer

It’s been a great summer for Chelsea on the pitch this year, and so far, it’s been just as exciting off it.

In addition to already shifting several unwanted players, such as Noni Madueke and Kepa Arrizabalaga, the West Londoners have significantly improved their squad’s firepower by splashing the cash on players like Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, and Jamie Gittens.

On top of that, they’ve also added a few more exciting prospects for the future, like Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr, who is set to rejoin Strasbourg on a season-long loan.

Yet, there are no signs of the Pensioners slowing down anytime soon, as they’re now being linked with another seriously exciting attacker who could be the perfect teammate for Palmer.

At least that is according to a recent report from Spain, which claims that Chelsea are very interested in signing Xavi Simons this summer.

In fact, the report claims that the Blues are now one of the leading clubs in the race for the RB Leipzig star, who has made it clear he wants to move this summer.

However, it won’t be a cheap deal to get over the line, as the report has revealed that the Bundesliga side want a fee of up to €110m, which converts to about £95m.

Whether that is actually the final price it will take to sign the Dutchman remains to be seen, but he would be an excellent addition to Chelsea’s squad and is someone who would be a perfect teammate for Palmer.

Why Simons would be a dream for Simons

It might sound rather simplistic, and that’s because it probably is, but the first reason Simons would be such a great teammate for Palmer is down to his output.

In just 33 appearances last season, totalling just 2763 minutes, the dynamic Leipzig ace found the back of the net on 11 occasions and provided eight assists.

That means that, despite starting the season as a 21-year-old, the Flying Dutchman managed to average a goal involvement every 1.73 games, or every 145.42 minutes, which is a seriously impressive rate of return.

Just imagine how many more goals and assists he would rack up playing alongside the Blues’ talismanic Englishman, and how many more he could rack up playing with the Leipzig star.

The second reason he’d be a dream teammate for the Wythenshawe-born ace is that he’s incredibly versatile, so while one analyst has dubbed him “one of the best 10s in the world,” the former Paris Saint-Germain gem is just as capable of playing on either flank, or even up top.

Not only would this give him more time to play with and establish a genuine partnership with Palmer, but it would also mean that, at times, he could come into the team in place of him, allowing him time to rest and return at his very best.

Finally, the fact that he’s just a year younger than the Englishman is also crucial, as it means he could continue to develop alongside him and hopefully reach his full potential around the same time, which would only help further strengthen their understanding of one another’s game.

Ultimately, from his output to his versatility and age profile, Simons appears to be a perfect teammate in waiting for Palmer; therefore, Chelsea should do what they can to sign him as soon as possible.