Chelsea paid Manchester City £45million (The Evening Standard) in the summer to sign Cole Palmer, which right now is looking like value for money.

The 21-year-old attacking midfielder has entered a new environment at Stamford Bridge and hit the ground running from day one.

The Athletic recently claimed that some people inside Chelsea feel like Palmer is the player they thought they were signing when Kai Havertz joined the club.

The real deal

Jamie O’Hara has raved about the individual quality of Chelsea’s young rising star.

“Cole Palmer is a massive talking point right now. What a player he’s turned into. He’s actually got an England call-up, so fair play to him. He’s looking like the real deal,” O’Hara told talkSPORT (10:39pm, 13 November).

“I don’t know if Pep [Guardiola] would have really wanted to let him go, but he’s bought in [Jeremy] Doku, maybe it’s to balance the books. That is all out profit because he’s come through the academy… He’s actually turning into a top player.”

Cole Palmer faces next test

The next part of Palmer’s story is seeing how he copes with the increased pressure and scrutiny against his name. Our guess is he’ll continue to take everything in his stride, making everything look relatively easy and effortless.

His first ever senior call-up to the England squad this month is another big test of his character. Incidentally, speaking via England’s X account, Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate suggested he plans to use Palmer in a No 10 position.

Chelsea’s left-footed playmaker is a threat right now for his club side when starting as a right-winger. He’s got the freedom to move around and drift into central pockets, though.

The best thing the Blues can do is get the creative youngster the ball anywhere around the final third, where his vision and skill takes control.