When Cole Palmer signed for Chelsea for €47m from champions Manchester City in the summer of 2023, very few could have predicted the impact he would go on to make at Stamford Bridge. At 20 years of age, he had played just 1,483 minutes for Pep Guardiola’s first-team in all competitions. Some were even questioning whether the Blues had overpaid for a player with such little experience in senior football. Since then, Palmer has not only become one of the best players in the Premier League but one of the best in world football, and has thus seen his market value sky-rocket from €18 million up to €130m.
However, of late, parallel with his team’s form, Palmer’s output has fallen off a cliff. Chelsea have dropped from second to seventh since late December, and now face an uphill battle to secure a Champions League spot for next season. That demise from the West London clubs has in part come down to their star man Palmer no longer getting them out of trouble. As illustrated in the graphic below, between the start of the season and December Palmer registered 18 goal contributions; in 2025 the Englishman has just two goal contributions in eight games to date.
It seemed as though Premier League fas were just about becoming accustomed to seeing Palmer doing extraordinary things on the pitch week-in week-out. What made that feat even more remarkable was that he was achieving that for a team that weren’t even one of the division’s best. There has without doubt, for a long time, been an over-reliance on Palmer at Chelsea. But right now, the 22 year old is struggling in a struggling team. So why has Palmer’s drop-off in form been so sudden?
Why has Cole Palmer’s form dropped off for Chelsea
The first factor to point out is that this aforementioned fall-off in numbers and performances is still from a relatively small sample size. And no one is doubting that Palmer can still go on to finish the season strongly, and still be one of the Premier League’s best players this season. But it’s now gone past just a small blip. In Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa, there was a moment where Palmer seemed to lose it at striker Christopher Nkunku, after overhitting a pass himself which rolled out for a goal-kick. In truth the Frenchman could never have got there – but perhaps Palmer’s frustration came more at the fact he was missing regular striker Nicolas Jackson as his partner in crime.
Jackson has assisted Palmer for four goals in the Premier League alone this season, and the duo have a real attacking understanding for Chelsea. Jackson was taken off during the Blues’ 2-1 win over West Ham at the start of February and has since been ruled out with a hamstring injury. In the graphic above, albeit from a small sample size, we can see the affect Jackson being in the team has on Palmer’s output. In the 53 matches Palmer has played alongside the Senegalese striker, he has scored 34 goals and provided 17 assists at a rate of 0.64 goals-per-game and 0.33 assists-per-game. In the six games without Jackson, those numbers drop to 0.33 goals-per-game and 0.00 assists-per-game.
However, all of the blame for Palmer’s drop-off cannot be laid at the door of Jackson not being available. There has been a steady demise in his Premier League form for some time now. As highlighted above, since match-day 15, Palmer has failed to replicate his early season heroics. It’s now been five consecutive games without a goal or assist. “Cole [Palmer] is a great player. He had chances that he missed, but we are very sure he’s going to be happy with Chelsea and we’re going to be happy with him. We cannot rely on Cole every game. We need all of the team,” said manager Enzo Maresca after the defeat at Villa Park on Saturday.
Palmer’s form has certainly been symbolic of the team itself. Back at the start of the season, Chelsea’s playmaker signed a new nine-year contract that will keep him at the club until 2033, when he will be 30 years old. Palmer will have to stand up and take it on the chin that his performances haven’t been up to the extremely high standards he has set. However, even the best player’s go through bad patches, and when he is struggling, Palmer needs help from those around him. He has created 32 chances across his last 14 games, but in that time, he’s registered 0 assists. For a player with his talent, another season without playing in the Champions League seems crazy. But he may have to step up himself and recapture his earlier form to get his team back in Europe’s top competition.
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