Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino believes Cole Palmer has the attributes to be another Angel Di Maria if he reaches his potential.

The Blues boss has been extremely impressed with the 21-year-old since his £42.5m move from Manchester City and, speaking to TNT Sports ahead of the game against Luton, he spoke about the player in glowing terms:

“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. 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.”

As Pochettino mentions, he coached Di Maria during his time managing PSG so he is well-placed to compare the two players.

Chelsea have signed a massive talent

Palmer has scored 6 goals and contributed 5 assists in 18 appearances since making the switch to Stamford Bridge in August; that is more goal contributions than anyone else at the club during the same period.

Tremendous credit has to go to Co-Director of Recruitment and Talent Joe Shields, who was the one who pushed the Blues into signing Palmer when it became clear that City were prepared to sell.

Palmer will be back in contention to play against Luton

The winger was suspended for the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening. He had picked up a one-match ban for five bookable offences.

However, based on Pochettino‘s comments, it looks almost guaranteed that Palmer will be back in the starting eleven when Chelsea take on their next opponents at Kenilworth Road on Sunday.