Evening Standard
·13 luglio 2025
Cole Palmer issues X-rated response to Chelsea critics after Club World Cup win

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·13 luglio 2025
Blues star is confident over the future of the club after another trophy
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Cole Palmer offered an X-rated response to Chelsea’s doubters after the Blues won the Club World Cup final to be crowned world champions.
The England international was the Blues’ matchwinner as he scored twice and laid on a third for Joao Pedro as Paris Saint-Germain were stunned 3-0 to win the first edition of the new 32-team Club World Cup.
Chelsea had qualified for the competition as 2021 winners of the Champions League and had finished fourth in the Premier League last season while winning the Conference League.
Palmer felt critics of the Blues’ style of football and participation in Europe’s third-tier competition were silenced as they lifted the Club World Cup trophy at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
“It’s a great season — even better because everyone doubted us before the game,” he said. “We knew that. We put out a fight against a great team.
“I like finals,” he said, when reminded he often raises his game in big matches. “It happened again.
“The gaffer [Enzo Maresca] put a great game plan out. He knew where the spaces were going to be. He freed me up as much as possible, and I just had to repay him by scoring some goals.
“He’s building something special, something important. Everyone has talked a lot of s*** about us all season, but I feel like we’re going in the right direction.”