Chelsea nearly signed world star for £0, now he’s worth more than Palmer

How will Todd Boehly be judged? How will Chelsea’s Clearlake years be remembered? At the moment, while uncertainty reigns amid the threat of an ownership civil war, Enzo Maresca is stirring a decent team together.

There’s no denying that the road has been rough these past few years, but Chelsea went through the gears under Mauricio Pochettino last year but the Argentine didn’t fit the vision, and Maresca has been welcomed with the long run in mind.

How will Chelsea be judged? Transfer dealings have been questionable at best and disastrous at worst, but the £42.5m signing of Cole Palmer has possibly trumped every deal across the great expanse of the Premier League since the summer of 2023.

The England international is quite the player, moving to Stamford Bridge after showing exciting signs of quality at Manchester City, but being restricted to a bit-part role in Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering machine.

He has been the catalyst and remains the biggest gem in an expensive Blues squad…

Cole Palmer’s success at Chelsea

Last season, Palmer scored 25 goals and claimed 15 assists for Chelsea, inspiring awe through his attacking performances and playing a crucial role in rising from the rubble of the previous season, returning to Europe with a sixth-place Premier League finish.

Oh sure, Erling Haaland knows his way around goalscoring; ah yes, Liverpool boast the talents of Mohamed Salah, expert shooter and ever-evolving playmaker, but neither amassed more goal contributions than Chelsea’s man.

Phil Foden, Palmer’s ostensible roadblock at the Etihad Stadium, was bestowed the Premier League Player of the Season award, but he too failed to match his countryman’s prolificness.

That £42.5m outlay looks to be shrewder and shrewder every day. After all, Palmer has quite quickly shrugged off any notion of being a ‘one-season wonder’, having already posted a goal and four assists in the top flight, featuring three times.

His variegated approach to his football emphasises his quality as “one of the best in the world”, as he has been called by his captain Reece James.

As per FBref, the 6 foot 2 star ranks among the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals, the top 1% for assists, the top 6% for shot-creating actions and the top 7% for progressive passes per 90.

But for all his clinical performances, Palmer’s ability is not really quantifiable. Indeed, he is so influential, so slick, so stylish, impelling his peers toward brighter prospects.

He has been, in this way, the talisman that Chelsea needed to guide them away from the hanging mists of testing times.

Now, let’s imagine that Chelsea once had a forward within their grasp who could have been even greater than Palmer, how they must rue the missed opportunity.

When Kylian Mbappe had a trial with Chelsea

Kylian Mbappe is the very personification of a superstar. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have faded into the background, neither ageing greats plying their trade in Europe any longer, and Mbappe is among the blooming phenomenons to have sights fixed on the Ballon d’Or and greatness.

If he hasn’t got that already. Mbappe swerved a nascent stage with Monaco and toppled Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 title in 2016/17, a season the France prodigy began aged 17.

He won the 2018 World Cup, dominated his homeland after joining PSG and wreaking chaos each year. Real Madrid have long craved his signature and won a protracted, years-long bid to sign him this summer, clinching him following the expiry of his contract.

This is all a roundabout way of acknowledging the enormity of the missed chance from Chelsea, who had welcomed Mbappe during his formative years to their esteemed Cobham academy.

According to The Athletic, in 2011, an 11-year-old French boy completed a four-day trial at Chelsea but saw a deal fall through despite scoring and shining in a match against Charlton Athletic, with Mbappe’s mother demanding a contract be penned there and then.

Chelsea, however, were circumspect, unwilling to make such a cursory decision. Mbappe’s mother would not wait around for longer negotiation, further steps, and it’s worth remembering that Chelsea shuffled through incalculable numbers of teenage hopefuls, and could not hand out offers without completing due diligence.

Still, it’s one that’s certainly looked back on with an air of poignancy. After all, Mbappe showed remarkable qualities from the get-go, and perhaps an exception should have been made for a player whose ability soars above any Chelsea player since – and that’s including Palmer.

Bigger talent than Cole Palmer

Palmer is still only 22, which is quite a thing. If he continues on his current track, it’s conceivable that he will earn a place among the likes of Mbappe, Haaland, Vinicius Junior and more as one of the game’s superlative forwards, challenging for the biggest accolades year after year.

But he’s got some distance to travel before he can become the true cream of the crop and dethrone a player like Mbappe, who might be one of the finest in front of goal but backs it up with extraordinary underlying numbers, ranking among the top 2% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, the top 4% for progressive passes, the top 2% for progressive carries and the top 1% for successful take-ons per 90.

His transfer to Real Madrid has seen a slow but steady start, with three goals from five appearances, but the France captain is sure to reach lofty heights indeed over in Spain, for he has done so across every realm so far.

Perhaps Palmer will continue his meteoric rise and ascend to the very peak of football’s talent mountain, but it would take some doing.

As per Transfermarkt’s player-valuing system, Mbappe, still only 25, is worth £152m at present, placing him among the highest-rated players in world football – something that will surprise no one.

That’s on par with Bellingham, Vinicius and Haaland as the world’s most valuable players, and currently perches some distance above Chelsea’s superstar Palmer, who is valued at £69m.

No doubt Palmer will continue to grow, and Chelsea truly do have one of England’s finest talents in a long, long time. But just imagine Mbappe blitzing up and down the wing. It’s a missed opportunity if we’ve ever seen one…