You would do incredibly well to find any Chelsea supporters, or supporters of any club, who do not think that the club hit the jackpot with Cole Palmer.
The Blues reportedly paid an initial fee of £40m to sign the attacking midfielder from Manchester City in the summer of 2023, and he has been a rip-roaring success at Stamford Bridge.
Since making the move to London two years ago, the England international has racked up 43 goals and 29 assists in 97 appearances in all competitions for the club.
The left-footed star, who won the Conference League with the Blues last season, has scored a staggering 37 goals in the Premier League in his two seasons with Chelsea to date.
Palmer is well on his way to being recognised as one of the best number ten, or attacking midfield, players the club have had in modern history, at least.
However, he still has a way to go to overtake some of the other established names in that role, such as Italian icon Gianfranco Zola, who the current Chelsea star knew through FIFA.
Why Gianfranco Zola is a Chelsea legend
Last year, Palmer admitted that he did not know too much about the former Blues midfielder, but knew that he was a good player because he had an icon card on FIFA.
Whilst Zola may be an icon in FIFA, or EAFC as it is now called, he is a legend at Stamford Bridge because of what he achieved during his time at the club.
The diminutive star joined the Blues from Parma in the summer of 1996 and spent seven years in London, racking up two FA Cups, a League Cup, a Community Shield, and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
In 2003, Chelsea ran a poll to find out who their supporters felt was the best player in the club’s history, and Zola won it with a landslide 60% of the votes, which shows how highly fans rated him at the time.
Whilst the likes of John Terry, Didier Drogba, and Eden Hazard, among others, have passed through the club since then, this shows that the Italian maestro is still a Chelsea legend from that era.
2002/03
38
14
7
2001/02
35
3
4
2000/01
36
9
4
1999/00
33
4
2
1998/99
37
13
4
1997/98
27
8
3
1996/97
23
8
3
Zola ended his time at the club with a return of 80 goals and 44 assists in 312 appearances in all competitions, which shows that Palmer still has a way to go to catch up with his legacy.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are now reportedly eyeing up a move to sign another attacking midfielder who is even more similar to Zola than Palmer is.
Chelsea ready to bid for Bundesliga star
According to Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, Chelsea are still “working” on a deal to sign RB Leipzig attacking midfielder Xavi Simons this summer.
The reporter claims that there is a “strong feeling” that a transfer will go through before the summer window slams shut at the start of September.
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Plettenberg adds that the Blues are “ready to submit an official bid” for the Netherlands international, although there is no mention of how much the offer is going to be worth.
He reveals that a verbal agreement is almost in place, but the Conference League champions need to offload some more players before they go through with a deal.
Leipzig are reportedly looking for a fee in the region of £61m in order to sanction an exit for the Dutch playmaker, who could be Zola 2.0 at Stamford Bridge next season.
Why Chelsea should sign Xavi Simons
The Blues should push to get this deal done because the Bundesliga star could come in as Enzo Maresca’s own version of Zola, as a diminutive number ten who offers goals, assists, and flair.
Whilst Palmer is undoubtedly a phenomenal footballer, he is somewhat unorthodox at times due to his lanky frame. That is not a bad thing, as the numbers speak for themselves, but Simons may be more of an aesthetic like-for-like for Zola in a Chelsea shirt.
The 5 foot 10 magician, who was described as a “superstar” by analyst Ben Mattinson, is a joy to watch with the way that he can dribble and move with the ball at his feet, effortlessly drifting past opposition players, as shown in the clip below.
As well as being an enjoyable player to watch, Simons is also an effective operator at the top end of the pitch, as he has proven himself to be adept at scoring and creating goals.
In the last two seasons, the Dutch sensation has racked up 21 goals and 21 assists in all competitions for Leipzig, which shows that he can offer plenty of quality in the final third.
xG
5.11
Top 4%
xG on target
8.19
Top 2%
Goals
10
Top 1%
xA
5.98
Top 6%
Chances created
51
Top 7%
Assists
7
Top 5%
Successful dribbles
33
Top 4%
Touches in opposition’s box
88
Top 3%
As you can see in the table above, Simons ranked highly among his positional peers in the Bundesliga last season in a host of key attacking metrics, as a goalscorer, a creator, and as a dribbler.
These statistics suggest that the 22-year-old starlet has the potential to be an incredibly exciting and effective attacking midfielder, possibly playing alongside Palmer in the team, for Chelsea if they are able to get a deal over the line for him.
Palmer and Simons could be a joy to watch alongside each other as two attacking midfielders who have both proven that they can score and assist goals on a regular basis at the top level, which is why this could be a brilliant signing for Chelsea.
That is on top of the Dutchman potentially giving the older Blues supporters flashbacks of Zola with his similarities to the former Italian star, due to his diminutive style of play, height, and technical elegance.
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