Cole Palmer
Cole Jermaine Palmer is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for club Chelsea and the England national team. Known for his dribbling and passing ability, he is widely regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world.
An academy graduate of Manchester City, Palmer made his senior debut for the club in 2020, and was later part of their squad that won a continental treble of the Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League in 2023. He signed for Chelsea that year for a fee of £40 million and enjoyed a breakout debut season, earning multiple honours—including the PFA Fans' Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards. In 2025, Palmer helped Chelsea win both the UEFA Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup, being named man of the match in both finals and receiving the Golden Ball in the latter.
Palmer has represented England across various youth levels, including winning the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, before making his senior debut in the same year. He represented his country at UEFA Euro 2024, scoring the equalising goal in the final.
Early life and education
Cole Jermaine Palmer was born on 6 May 2002 in Wythenshawe, Manchester. He and his sister were raised by a dental engineer father and a dyslexia assessor mother. Palmer's father played Sunday league football for nearly two decades, and Palmer regularly watched him. Growing up in Wythenshawe, he started playing football in his local grassroots club NJ Wythenshawe.Palmer attended Gatley Primary School in Stockport, and was later privately educated at St Bede's College in partnership with the Manchester City Academy.
Club career
Manchester City
Despite being a Manchester United fan, Palmer joined Manchester City in 2010 at under-eight level and progressed through the Academy age groups before captaining the under-18s during the 2019–20 season. He had faced concerns from the age of 14 that his physique was too slight for professional football, and academy coaches wanted to release him at 16, but academy director Jason Wilcox rejected their decision.On 30 September 2020, Palmer made his first-team debut for City in a 3–0 away win over Burnley in the fourth round of the EFL Cup. On 21 September 2021, he scored his first goal in a 6–1 home win over League One team Wycombe Wanderers in the third round of the EFL Cup. On 16 October, Palmer made an appearance in the Premier League against Burnley, and scored a hat-trick for City's under-23 side that same night. On 19 October, Palmer scored as a substitute in a 5–1 away win over Club Brugge in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, marking his first goal in European football. On 7 January 2022, Palmer scored on his FA Cup debut in a 4–1 away win over League Two team Swindon Town.
2022–23 season
Palmer saw increased involvement during the 2022–23 season, though still frequently featuring as a substitute. However, his 14 Premier League appearances contributed to Manchester City's title-winning campaign, claiming the title. On 18 March 2023, he scored the team's fifth goal in a dominant performance against Burnley during the FA Cup quarter-finals. Palmer also made four appearances during City's Champions League winning run.On 6 August 2023, Palmer scored the first goal in the 2023 FA Community Shield against Arsenal, after coming on for Erling Haaland as a second-half substitute. However, Arsenal scored in stoppage time and eventually won the match in a penalty shoot-out. Ten days later, Palmer scored the equaliser in the 2023 UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla, which Manchester City won 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out after the match finished 1–1, in what would be his last appearance for the club.
Chelsea
2023–24: Breakout season and young player of the season
On 1 September, Palmer signed for Premier League club Chelsea on a seven-year contract, with the option of a further year. The transfer fee was reported to be an initial £40 million, potentially rising by £2.5 million in add-ons. He made his debut the following day as a 62nd-minute substitute in a 1–0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest. On 7 October, Palmer scored his first goal for Chelsea, from a penalty kick, while also providing the assist for Nicolas Jackson's goal in a 4–1 away victory over Burnley. On 6 November, Palmer registered a goal and an assist in a 4–1 away win at London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Six days later, Palmer scored a stoppage-time penalty against former club Manchester City, as the two teams played out a 4–4 draw at Stamford Bridge.In Chelsea's final match of 2023, away to Luton Town, Palmer scored twice for the first time professionally, while also assisting Noni Madueke's goal, as Chelsea won 3–2. As a result of his performances during December, which included four goals and two assists, Palmer was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award, and his second goal against Luton Town was nominated for Premier League Goal of the Month. On 23 January 2024, Palmer scored another brace, this time in the EFL Cup semi-finals, as Chelsea defeated Middlesbrough 6–1 to advance to the final at Wembley Stadium. He scored his tenth league goal of the season on 4 February in a 4–2 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers, making him the first Chelsea player aged 21 or under to score 10 Premier League goals in a season. On 29 February, he was named the Men's Young Player of the Year at the 2024 London Football Awards. By assisting Axel Disasi's goal against Brentford on 2 March, Palmer became the Chelsea player with the most goal contributions in a season aged 21 or younger, overtaking Arjen Robben's tally of 16 contributions in 2004–05.
On 4 April, Palmer was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award a second time after more impressive displays throughout March that saw him score three goals and provide two assists. Later that day, he scored his first career hat-trick, which included two goals scored deep into added time to complete Chelsea's comeback in a 4–3 home victory against Manchester United. By doing so, Palmer became the 200th different player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick, as well as the third youngest to do so in a match against Manchester United. Palmer's performance in this match enabled him to become the third ever recipient of the Premier League Game Changer of the Season award. On 15 April, Palmer scored his second career hat-trick against Everton in a 6–0 home win, finishing the match with four goals, and thus became the 31st Premier League player to score four or more goals in a league game, and the first Chelsea player to score two Premier League hat-tricks for the club in a season. He set a record for the fastest perfect hat-trick to be scored in the Premier League, completing it within 29 minutes. Furthermore, he became the third player in the club's history to score at least 20 goals in his debut season, following Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in 2000–01 and Diego Costa in 2014–15.
On 5 May, Palmer scored during a 5–0 home victory against West Ham United, becoming only the third player in Premier League history aged 21 or younger to contribute to 30 or more goals in a single season. Palmer was then named Chelsea Players' Player of the Season as well as Chelsea Player of the Season, voted for by supporters, as well as being awarded the Premier League Player of the Month award for April 2024 and the Premier League Goal of the Month award for his first goal against Everton, becoming the first player in Chelsea history and the fifth player overall to win the Player of the Month and Goal of the Month awards in the same month. On 11 May, Palmer made his 50th overall Premier League appearance, marking the occasion with an assist in a 3–2 away win at Nottingham Forest. By doing so, Palmer became the 13th player in Premier League history to score 20 or more goals and provide 10 or more assists in the same season.
Palmer finished the season with a total of 27 goals and 15 assists across all competitions; he had the most goal involvements of any other player in the 2023–24 Premier League season. He won the Premier League Young Player of the Season and PFA Fans' Player of the Year awards for his outstanding first season at Chelsea while also being nominated for the Premier League Player of the Season and the FWA Footballer of the Year awards. His Goal of the Month winning strike against Everton in April was nominated for Premier League Goal of the Season.
2024–25: Conference League and Club World Cup titles
Before the start of his second season, Palmer signed a new, nine-year contract with Chelsea, keeping him at the club until at least June 2033. On 20 August, Palmer was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Five days later, he scored his first goal of the campaign against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium. This goal would go on to win the Premier League Goal of the Month award for August 2024, making Palmer the first player in Premier League history to win the award twice in a row across two seasons. In the second half of the same match, Palmer assisted all three of Noni Madueke's goals, helping Chelsea defeat Wolves 6–2, with this performance being the catalyst of his nomination for August 2024's Premier League Player of the Month award.In a 4–2 win against Brighton & Hove Albion on 28 September, Palmer scored four goals in the first half, becoming the first player to achieve this feat in the Premier League. On 11 October, Palmer was awarded Premier League Player of the Month for September, for his five goals and one assist during the month contributing to Chelsea's unbeaten record in September.
File:P20250713DT-1065 President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend the FIFA Club World Cup Final soccer match.jpg|thumb|Palmer receiving the Golden Ball for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup from U.S. president Donald Trump
On 1 December, Palmer scored his 30th goal in the Premier League against Aston Villa in a 3–0 home victory, making him the second-fastest Chelsea player to score 30 league goals, with only Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink achieving this feat in fewer matches. The following week, he scored two penalties in a thrilling 4–3 victory over Tottenham, the second of which was a panenka. With twelve penalties scored out of twelve penalties taken, Palmer's goals in this match earned him the outright Premier League record for the most penalties scored without a single miss, surpassing Yaya Touré's previous record of eleven. Throughout 2024, Palmer also broke the record for the Chelsea player with the most goal contributions in a calendar year in the Premier League, exceeding Hasselbaink's 36 goals and assists in 2001.
However, Palmer then underwent a period of poor form; amidst this, he missed a Premier League penalty for the first time against Leicester on 9 March 2025. He failed to score in 11 Premier League matches by 21 April 2025. On 25 April, manager Enzo Maresca stated that Palmer's recent struggles on the pitch were "a mental thing". On 4 May 2025, he ended a goalless period of 18 games and 1,162 minutes with a goal against Liverpool.
On 28 May 2025, Palmer was named man of the match after providing two assists in the 2025 UEFA Conference League final against Real Betis, helping Chelsea become the first team to win all four major European competitions. On 20 June, it was announced that Palmer was one of six nominees for the PFA Players' Player of the Year. Later that year, on 13 July, he scored twice and provided an assist in a 3–0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final, where he was named player of the match. He finished the tournament with three goals and two assists, earning the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.