Former Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo believes that Cole Palmer has the ability to “win the Ballon d’Or” one day.

Di Matteo, who was head coach when the Blues won their first Champions League back in 2012, says the way that Palmer plays is most similar to former Chelsea star Eden Hazard:

“Everybody has his own style, but Cole Palmer is very difficult to mark and to defend against, because he’s such an intelligent player and he always knows where to find the space. But I had to compare him to a former Chelsea player, maybe Eden Hazard. Hazard was a similar player that could slide past opponents with a first touch and find the space as well as go past players and score and assist.”

“So I think that would be probably the closest comparison, to make it look so easy. I think Cole Palmer has all the qualities to win a Ballon d’Or in his career. Ultimately, it depends how successful the team will be with him…”

“To win the Ballon d’Or, you need to be playing in the Champions League, need to be competing for the Premier League or winning the Premier League and also at international level with England. He’s a player who can change the face of the team because when he’s on fire, the team is on fire as well. As we saw last season or in the period that he couldn’t reach the level that he is used to normally, the team struggled a little bit to find other solutions. But I can’t see why not, why he shouldn’t be up there for the Ballon d’Or.”

Palmer will have to improve his consistency

In addition to being part of a successful team, Palmer will need to rediscover the sort of form he produced during his first season at Stamford Bridge.

Although he finished the 2024/25 campaign in fine style, playing a pivotal role in the finals of both the Conference League and Club World Cup, it shouldn’t be forgotten that he hasn’t scored from open play in the league this calendar year.

If Palmer is to become a genuine contender for the Ballon d’Or, his goal threat needs to be consistent. He cannot afford to have too many off games.

The England international has already demonstrated he can produce the goods over an extended period of time, and the fact that he is still only 23 years of age means you would hope that there are even greater things to come from him in the future.

In other news, Chelsea have been warned that they may be signing another Christopher Nkunku if they complete a £60m transfer