Latest news with #ColePalmer
New York Times
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Chelsea's 2024-25 player of the season: Moises Caicedo
Who is the best player in the Premier League never to have featured in the Champions League? It is hard to think of a worthier answer to this particular question than Moises Caicedo, but he will not be eligible for much longer. Chelsea will be back in Europe's elite club competition next season, and the soft-spoken but tough-tackling Ecuador international might be the single most significant reason why. Advertisement Caicedo is the only member of Enzo Maresca's young squad to start all 38 of Chelsea's Premier League matches in 2024-25. The last Chelsea player to achieve the feat was Cesar Azpilicueta in 2018-19, and the last midfielder to do it was Frank Lampard in 2004-05. Joining that exclusive club is a testament to the 23-year-old's endurance, but also to his vital importance. He has been the ever-present reference point for Maresca's midfield, around which an inverted full-back can roam, ahead of which Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez can focus the bulk of their energies on the final third without worrying that Chelsea's defence is liable to be exposed. At times, it has felt as if he holds the entire team together — even on the occasions when he has been the nominal right-back inverting into midfield next to Romeo Lavia. 'When you've got Caicedo next to you, it's a dream, really,' Palmer told Sky Sports, as reported by MSN, after Chelsea's 3-1 win over Liverpool earlier this month. 'From the start of the season until now, he's been our best player. He's a machine. He wins everything back (for the team), always gives 100 per cent every day, he's humble, he's nice to everyone, and everyone loves him.' Palmer would have had a strong case to retain his Chelsea player of the season crown if he had managed to carry his 2024 production into 2025. Fernandez has had excellent stretches of form under Maresca this season. Marc Cucurella has bolstered his Stamford Bridge cult-hero credentials by darting upfield from left-back to score several key goals. Levi Colwill has been a fixture in Maresca's defence and scored the most important goal of the season against Nottingham Forest to seal a fourth-place finish. Yet it is a mark of just how good Caicedo has been that among his team-mates and Chelsea supporters, there was no real debate before the voting and no argument after he swept the board for men's first team awards at the club's awards ceremony earlier this month. Advertisement Midfielders who do their best work winning the ball back can sometimes be overlooked for individual credit, but not at Chelsea. This is the club where Claude Makelele was adored, where Nemanja Matic became a revered two-time Premier League champion, and where N'Golo Kante regularly drew gasps from the Stamford Bridge crowd as his otherworldly ability to take the ball from opponents cemented him as the most uniquely dominant midfielder of his generation. Caicedo, with his prime years still ahead of him, has already done enough to distinguish himself as part of that proud lineage. His aggression can sometimes get the better of him, and there are moments when he is overly ambitious in his attempts to poke the ball away. But relatively regular yellow cards are a small price to pay as he engages in the process of exploring the limits of his destructive talents. Opponents already respect his ability to disrupt or derail their attacks, and Chelsea's vast defensive improvement, impossible to ignore under Maresca, has a lot to do with Caicedo. 'Moi is just breaking up everything and making everything look so easy,' Colwill told Chelsea's official YouTube channel after last month's 1-0 win over rivals Tottenham. 'If I had a mic on me when I'm playing, all you'd hear is, 'Wow, Moi'. That's all I do because he makes it so easy for us in defence because he stops everything before it gets to us.' Caicedo's consistent aggression is all the more important at the heart of a young, technical Chelsea team that is often accused of lacking physicality and bite. On good days and bad, he sets the tone without the ball, as well as directing possession with poise and polish. Maresca has already publicly claimed that he is the best defensive midfielder in the world, and any Premier League team of the 2024-25 season which does not include Caicedo raises eyebrows at Stamford Bridge. The question going into next season is not whether he is ready for the Champions League, but whether the Champions League is ready for him.
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
'Young, hungry and talented' or 'out of his depth?'
After Chelsea triggered the release clause of Ipswich Town forward Liam Delap, we asked how you felt about the 22-year-old potentially moving to Stamford are some of your thoughts:Freddie: I'm pretty happy to have a striking option wrapped up so soon. He's young, has Premier League experience and knows the manager, and at £30m he's an absolute bargain compared with what we've been paying. I reckon him and Nicolas Jackson will bring out the best in each other through competition - and if he can score 12 for Ipswich imagine how many he could get with Cole Palmer behind him!Stewart: I like Delap. He is big, strong, mobile and knows where the goal is. Will be a great addition if the deal goes He is exactly what we need. Young hungry and a Chelsea fan? Find and follow your club hereCarlo: As a Chelsea season ticket-holder it seems to be an absolute no-brainer at that price and his age. Also, I believe he counts as homegrown for our Champions League campaign. I feel he is going to have a great partnership in attack with his mate He scored fewer goals than Jackson this year. How is this improving the squad? What a No disrespect to him but he hasn't proven it. We don't want another mediocre player who will be out of his depth in Europe next year.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Cole Palmer proved he's the man for the big occasions - now it's time to see the Chelsea star shining alongside Jude Bellingham for England, writes DANNY MURPHY
Cole Palmer 's match-winning performance for Chelsea in the Conference League final proved, once again, that the big occasions never faze the best players. Palmer plays with a special freedom. He's a risk-taker who's able to seize any moment to alter the course of a game. Those players are rare. Even when he wasn't scoring this season, I was never worried because he was creating chances and I'd seen enough to know what a wonderful talent he is. Palmer showed great mental strength, too, against Real Betis. It would have been easy to get frustrated with the lack of ball and space but, when you are such an intelligent player, you know the game always becomes stretched and your chance will come. When they did, he took them, providing two brilliant assists. Without Palmer, Chelsea don't win that game and without him they don't qualify for the Champions League. I loved hearing Palmer say he was fed up with playing the ball backwards and sideways. He was verbalising what the great creative players think. We live in a world where people are obsessed with ball retention. When I played, if my pass completion was over 75 or 80 per cent, I'd be annoyed. I'd been too safe. I hadn't been brave enough. I hadn't taken enough risks. You can't play as a creative midfielder in a top team and not try to open up the opposition. It frustrates me how safe so many creative players in the Premier League are. Someone has to take the responsibility. Palmer always does. He is the epitome of bravery on the ball, a shining example to young players of how to make things happen. He has never failed to do that when I have watched him play. Never. Palmer will light up bigger stages than the Conference League final, that's for sure. This is a player who's scored in a European Championship final, too, don't forget. Thomas Tuchel has to find a way to get him into the England team. I would play him alongside Jude Bellingham with Declan Rice sitting in behind. Bellingham can always drop in if England need to be more defensive because he has the physicality to do that.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Chelsea ‘ask £350,000-a-week Man Utd loanee Jadon Sancho to sign new contract before completing £25m transfer'
CHELSEA have asked Jadon Sancho to agree to a new contract before completing a £25million transfer, according to reports. The England international, 25, spent the 2024-25 season on loan at Stamford Bridge from Old Trafford. Chelsea have a £25m obligation to buy Sancho in the summer transfer window. However, they do have a £5m penalty clause to break out of the deal and escape the obligation. Now Sky Sports News are reporting that the Blues are in negotiations with the winger's representatives over his future. Chelsea most likely want Sancho to stay in West London. However, Sky claim they will only sign him if he agrees to fit into the wage structure at the club. Sancho earns a whopping £350,000 per week at United, where he has one year left on his current deal. But part of the Todd Boehly regime is signing players on relatively low wages. Star-man Cole Palmer is on £130,000 per week while the likes of Nicolas Jackson, Robert Sanchez, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto and Romeo Lavia are all on £65,000 per week or less. THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY.. The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video. Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball.
Dubai Eye
2 days ago
- Sport
- Dubai Eye
Chelsea dominates Betis 4–1 to win Conference League title
Chelsea sparked into life in the second half as they came from behind to claim the Conference League trophy with a 4-1 victory over Real Betis on Wednesday. Their revival was inspired by the creativity of Cole Palmer at the Wroclaw Stadium. Goals from Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson - both set up by the excellent Palmer - plus late strikes from Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo secured the silverware after Betis went in 1-0 up at halftime thanks to an early Abde Ezzalzouli strike. The 23-year-old Palmer's two assists in five minutes during the second half turned the match around for Premier League club Chelsea and his efforts saw him named Player of the Match. The victory means Chelsea are the first team to have won all three European competitions, having lifted the Champions League twice along with two Europa League trophies in their history. They have also won the now defunct Cup Winners' Cup. "I am very happy. I was a little bit frustrated in the first half because I think we approached the game in the wrong way," Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca told TNT Sport. "In the second half we played much better." The result had no bearing on European qualification for next season, with Chelsea having secured a Champions League spot and Real Betis a Europa League place via their domestic leagues. Even before the match started, Betis fans set off green flares, their vibrant glow embodying the fervour and historic pride of the club's debut appearance in a European final. However, Betis appeared nervous in the opening minutes before they went ahead when Isco found the unmarked Ezzalzouli at the edge of the box in the ninth minute, giving him plenty of time to break the deadlock with a powerful low shot. Betis nearly doubled their advantage minutes later when Marc Bartra's long-range effort forced Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen to tip the ball over the bar. Johnny Cardoso then received a perfectly weighted pass that put him in an ideal position to score another goal for Betis, but a moment of hesitation allowed Chelsea defender Benoit Badiashile to block his attempt. Second-half Turnaround In the first half, only one team had been in the ascendancy as Betis pushed forward and Chelsea were outplayed. However, it was a different story in the second period as Chelsea seized control, dominating midfield and orchestrating a series of attacks that left Betis scrambling. The pressure bore fruit in the 65th minute when Fernandez slipped between two defenders to head home a pinpoint Palmer cross for the equaliser and ignite a roar from the Chelsea fans. Five minutes later, the match had completely turned around when Palmer cleverly turned his marker near the byline and again delivered a precise cross that enabled Jackson to bundle the ball into the net off his chest and put Chelsea ahead. Sancho effectively ended the contest in the 83rd minute by firing into the far corner and Caicedo put the icing on the cake with the fourth goal in stoppage time to delight the fans and secure the London club's seventh major European trophy.
