Palmer ‘could be’ best Premier League player, says Maresca | OneFootball

Cole Palmer is one of the best players in the Premier League and ‘could be’ the solitary standout player, too, according to his manager Enzo Maresca.

The 22-year-old continued his impressive season with a panenka in Chelsea’s 4-3 comeback win against Tottenham in the Premier League, which included record-breaking 12th consecutive penalty.

That took Palmer’s tally to 11 goals and six assists in his 15 league appearance, firmly positioning himself as one of the league’s most important players.

When asked about his standing as the Premier League’s best star, Maresca suggested he ‘could be in this moment.’

“But England is quite lucky in terms of there are many good players. For sure, Cole is one of them.”

“He is just 21 so he can do many things better. He is learning that everyone is marking him man-to-man and how he can play against them.”

Palmer will not add to his domestic goal involvement tally as he was omitted from the Europa Conference League squad. Still, his teammates will make the arduous journey to Almaty in Kazakhstan as they face Astana.

Maresca concedes a long trip awaits the team, but is refusing to listen to any favourites tag for the competition following a strong start to the season domestically.

“The mentality is to go to the next stage and then the next one. When we achieve the next one, we aim to get to the next one.

“I don’t like to think four or five months ahead. In my opinion, if we think four or five months ahead, you can lose focus a little bit.”