The next Chelsea manager will inherit a squad brimming with talent but also a glaring issue that can no longer be papered over: the sharp decline of Cole Palmer.
Once the undisputed heartbeat of the team, the 23-year-old midfielder — signed from Manchester City for £40m in September 2023 — has looked a shadow of his former self for almost a year. What was supposed to be his ascension into one of world football’s premier attacking talents has instead become a story of unfulfilled potential, persistent questions, and mounting pressure.
Palmer’s first major test at the highest level arrived at the start of the 2024/25 campaign. After an explosive breakout season under Mauricio Pochettino, during which he scored 25 goals and provided 15 assists in 45 appearances across all competitions, expectations were sky-high. Under Enzo Maresca the following year, he remained highly effective in possession — creating 2.31 chances and completing 1.53 dribbles per 90 minutes — while contributing 18 goals and 13 assists.
By December 2024, Palmer appeared to be carrying Chelsea toward glory. With 11 goals and six assists in just 16 Premier League games, he had the Blues sitting in second place and looking like genuine title contenders.
Then the cracks appeared. A winless run over the festive period saw Chelsea drop to fifth, falling 10 points behind Liverpool. Palmer added three more goals during that difficult spell, but his influence began to wane. He failed to score again in the Premier League until May 2025. By then, the Blues were fighting for a top-four finish rather than the title. Palmer eventually rediscovered some form at the business end of the season, helping Chelsea secure fourth place, the UEFA Conference League trophy, and the Club World Cup — the latter capped by a memorable victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the final.
Many anticipated that these triumphs would serve as a springboard. Instead, they marked the beginning of a troubling downturn.
In the build-up to just the second game of the new Premier League season, Palmer suffered a groin injury — the first significant injury of his young career. With minimal summer recovery time, he was rushed back into action, only to aggravate the problem a week later. He spent the next two months sidelined.
Upon his return in December, under both Maresca and then interim boss Liam Rosenior, Palmer was carefully reintegrated. There were occasional flashes of his old brilliance, but the spark that once defined him had dimmed. In March, after scoring in a 4-1 win over Aston Villa, he told the club website that he had “turned a corner.” Reality has been less kind. Chelsea have failed to win a single game — or even secure a point — since that interview, and Palmer has remained well below his best.
This season, the numbers paint a concerning picture: just 10 goals and three assists in 30 appearances across all competitions. His chance creation has dropped to 1.38 per 90 minutes and successful dribbles to 0.99 — a marked decline from his previous standards.
Interim manager Calum McFarlane pushed back against the growing narrative that Palmer is underperforming ahead of last weekend’s defeat to Nottingham Forest. Yet the player himself failed to repay that public show of faith, largely anonymous until the dying moments of the match.
The reasons behind Palmer’s prolonged slump are multifaceted: the psychological impact of his first major adversity, the physical toll of a poorly managed return from injury, and perhaps the weight of carrying a team with genuine title aspirations. Whatever the root causes, the situation has now become too significant to ignore.
As Chelsea prepare for a new era with a permanent head coach, revitalising Cole Palmer must sit near the top of the priority list. At just 23, the England international still possesses immense potential and remains a central figure in the club’s long-term vision. But the next manager will need to unlock the player who lit up Stamford Bridge, rather than simply hoping the old Cole Palmer reappears on his own.