Ian Wright wishes Arsenal had beaten Chelsea to Cole Palmer signing
'I wish we did.'
Cole Palmer has been one of the signings of the season, shining for Chelsea since moving from Manchester City, and Ian Wright wishes Arsenal had snapped him up last summer.
The 21-year-old chose to make the switch to Stamford Bridge from his boyhood club and it is paying off so far.
Palmer has scored 10 Premier League goals so far this season and 12 in all competitions, earning his first two England caps in the process.
Among a certain amount of chaos in the Chelsea team this season, Palmer has been one of the most consistently good performers, despite his lack of experience before moving to west London.
Wright is jealous of Arsenal’s London rivals reaping the benefits of a relatively cheap £40m signing, wishing that the Gunners had signed the youngster instead of the Blues.
‘I wish we did,’ he said on podcast Wrighty’s House on signing Palmer. ‘I don’t want to say who I’d have had him in for, but I’d have loved to have had Cole Palmer.
‘I heard someone saying something that he’s like [Riyad] Mahrez, but he’s not that player; he has so much more.’
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has been thrilled with the performances of the England star, comparing him to his countryman, former Real Madrid and PSG superstar Angel Di Maria.
‘In the position that he plays, and because he’s a left-footer and because he has some similarities and the quality, he’s a potential Angel Di Maria,’ Pochettino told TNT Sports earlier this season.
‘Angel is a world champion [with Argentina in 2022], he was in Paris [Saint-Germain] with us, and is an amazing player.
‘He [Palmer] has the capacity and the potential to be close to him, with time. He’s still far away, but this type of player that can link, can be a playmaker, have the capacity to score, assist, it’s this type of player like Angel.’
On the incredible impact Palmer has had from his start to life at Chelsea, Pochettino said: ‘Always you expect when you sign a player, you expect that they perform in the best way.
‘But of course he’s performing really well from day one, he’s adapted very well to the club, to the team-mates, to Chelsea life, and yes it’s amazing, because always you expect the player can perform well, but he’s doing excellent.’
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