Cole Palmer has made an impressive start at Chelsea (Reuters)
Mauricio Pochettino believes Cole Palmer has the potential to reach Angel Di Maria’s level at Chelsea.
Palmer has made an impressive start to his career at Chelsea following his £42.5 million move from Manchester City in the summer transfer window.
The 21-year-old has six goals and five assists for Chelsea this season and is pushing for a place in England’s Euro 2024 squad next year.
Di Maria, meanwhile, is thriving in his second stint at Benfica one year after he helped Argentina win the World Cup in Qatar.
Pochettino worked alongside Di Maria during their time together at Paris Saint-Germain and the Chelsea manager admits he sees similarities between the Argentine and Palmer.
‘In the position that he [Palmer] plays, and because he’s a left-footer and because he has some similarities and the quality, he’s a potential Angel Di Maria,’ Pochettino said of Palmer in an interview with TNT Sports.
Mauricio Pochettino managed Angel Di Maria at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG via Getty)
‘Angel is a world champion [with Argentina], he was in Paris 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.
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‘Always you expect when you sign a player, you expect that they perform in the best way.
‘But of course he’s performing really well from Day 1, he’s adapted very well to the club, to the teammates, to Chelsea life, and yes it’s amazing, because always you expect the player can perform well, but he’s doing excellent.’
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