Cole Palmer is no ordinary footballer… and at the age of just 22, he could go on to break all sorts of records for Chelsea and the Premier League as a whole.
Incredibly, Palmer has already broken one long-standing EPL record already in 2024/25, while closing in on a club landmark that hasn’t been matched in decades.
In the long run, if he stays fit and firing, Palmer could also take his place amongst the club’s all time ‘goal involvement’ legends.
Fantastic Four
Even though scoring a hat-trick is considered the pinnacle of net-busting in football, there are rare instances in which a player will notch four times or more in a game.
And Cole Palmer has done exactly that… not once but twice!
Back in September, he became the first player in history to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League game. Palmer blitzed Brighton at Stamford Bridge, completing his hat-trick in just 31 minutes before adding a fourth on the stroke of half time.
So historic was the moment that Palmer’s four-goal shirt was put up for auction… fetching a cool £34,000, which was donated to the Chelsea FC Foundation.
It was back in April 2024 in a 6-0 hammering of Everton that Palmer rattled in his other four-goal haul, which means that only he and Frank Lampard have scored four times or more in two different Premier League games in Chelsea’s history.
That outstanding display against the Toffees also yielded another incredible record for Palmer: he scored the perfect hat trick – left foot, right foot and header.
And his was the fastest perfect hat-trick in Premier League history, with the third goal going in with just 29 minutes on the clock.
Yet another record was broken in that game by Palmer: he became the first Chelsea player to score in seven consecutive Premier League games at Stamford Bridge.
Getting Involved
When he’s not breaking goalscoring records, Palmer is also heavily involved in creating goals for others in the blue shirt.
Indeed, he’s already broken records related to ‘goal involvements’ for Chelsea; that is, the combined tally of goals scored and assists delivered.
In 2023/24, his first full season as a Chelsea player, Palmer broke the club record for most goal involvements in a single Premier League campaign. The forward participated in 33 Blues goals (22 scored, eleven assists) all told; conquering the previous best mark set by the iconic Eden Hazard.
As a continuation of that feat, Palmer is also close to breaking another record: that is, the most Premier League goal involvements contributed in a single calendar year. As it stands, he has 36 to his credit at the start of December… giving him a handful of games in which to break the tie with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who also delivered 36 in 2001.
It’s also likely that between now and the end of 2024, Palmer will get the chance to level – or even beat – another obscure Premier League record. He has scored ten penalties in a row, which puts him within one spot kick of equalling the perfect conversion rate of eleven, set by Yaya Toure at Manchester City.
No wonder his nickname is Cold Palmer!
To the Future
Given his age and jaw-dropping ability, there really is the opportunity to write himself into Chelsea folklore.
Even in terms of just pure goal involvements, Palmer could be one of the most decorated players in the club’s history. It’s perhaps doubtful that he will be able to match Frank Lampard given his longevity, but other legends of the club will be in his crosshairs.
As far as Premier League goals for Chelsea are concerned, here’s how the standings look at the time of writing:
- Frank Lampard – 147
- Didier Drogba – 104
- Eden Hazard – 85
- Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – 69
- Gianfranco Zola – 59
- Cole Palmer – 30
Of course, this comes with a caveat: Palmer has scored 30 goals in 42 Premier League games for Chelsea. At that ratio (0.71 per game), he would go fourth on the list just by racking up 100 EPL appearances for the club.
And, hopefully, there will be many more than that to come…
As for Chelsea’s all-time assist makers, Palmer (at the time of writing) is on 17… Lampard tops the charts with 89.
But if Palmer was to somehow make 429 Premier League appearances for Chelsea, which is how many Lampard made, his assist tally at his current ratio would reach 173!