Right now, Cole Palmer is easily Chelsea’s best player.
The attacker has been the team’s most productive outlet and by some distance.
In total, Cole Palmer has come up with 32 goal contributions in 37 appearances for Chelsea this season.
Nineteen of those have been goals scored by the Englishman himself. Ultimately, he has been an incredibly dangerous forward.
However, looking at the Blues’ squad, there is probably at least one individual who has the potential to trump Palmer next term and the club would be mad to sell him before then.
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Chelsea’s other attackers
Nicolas Jackson, Raheem Sterling, Christopher Nkunku, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke are the other offensive players in Mauricio Pochettino‘s squad.
None of them have come anywhere close to matching Palmer’s productivity this season.
Sterling has not managed to replicate the form he showed at Manchester City at Chelsea, Mudryk has not lived up to his price tag and Nkunku has spent most of the season injured.
But the last of that trio… if he can get back to full fitness in the 2024/25 campaign and stay fit, then Chelsea could potentially have a better player than Palmer on their hands.
Christopher Nkunku has potential to be Chelsea’s best player
Assessing Nkunku’s record at RB Leipzig, if that eventually transfers over to England, the Frenchman becomes this team’s best player.
In the 2021/22 season, for example, Nkunku scored 35 goals in all competitions. It is why Chelsea were willing to spend £52m to land his signature.
CompetitionAppearancesGoalsBundesliga3420Champions League67Europa League64DFB-Pokal64Breakdown of Christopher Nkunku’s 2021/22 season
According to journalist Simon Phillips, after a difficult season plagued by injury, Saudi Arabia are now keeping an eye on the 26-year-old’s situation at Stamford Bridge.
But looking at the above, Chelsea would be mad to consider selling Nkunku this summer. They have to give him at least another year.