Chelsea great Gianfranco Zola says Cole Palmer has the quality to challenge for next year’s Ballon d’Or award.
Recall that the attacking midfielder has scored 32 goals and provided 20 assists in 56 competitive games for Chelsea.
However, in a chat with Daily Mirror, the former Italian midfielder stated that the England international must maintain his goal scoring form for Chelsea and improve hos contributions for country as well.
“One thing he can certainly work on is physique. He can be a little faster and maybe a little stronger in one-on-ones. I know he has a very quick mind. He will need to get his body a little faster.
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“And if he does, he can be in (and challenge for) the Ballon d’Or because the numbers and the skills are there. There is still work to do but potentially he can do it (win).
He has a very, very good coach to work with in (Enzo) Maresca and I’m sure he’ll make sure he works with that.”
“The pass he hit to (Pedro) Neto for the first goal… it was a brilliant pass. I see a lot of things like this in his games that I used to work with. Being able to see the pass before receiving the ball. It is a quality he develops a lot,” the Italian told the Daily Mirror.
“I saw this skill a lot yesterday (Sunday) and I’m impressed because the majority of players want to do something when they get the ball. But if you know what you’re going to do with the ball before you receive it, it’s like putting yourself ahead of the opponent. I was really impressed with him. I promise you, one of the biggest compliments I can pay a player is (when I see) this kind of quality.”
