'He's always a threat' - Ex-Chelsea forward slams Cole Palmer critics and backs Blues talisman to 'blossom again' alongside new signing Liam Delap

Former Chelsea and Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips has come to the aid of Palmer, following a difficult second half of the season where he scored just one Premier League goal from mid-January onwards. The ex-England international also believes the 23-year-old is "always a threat" and has been backed to form a good partnership with striker Delap.

He told Prime Casino: "I think it’s mad to say that Cole Palmer trailed off last season. I just don’t see it. I think people say it because he wasn’t scoring, but he was still creating the same amount of chances as when he was finding the back of the net himself. I don’t think he tailed off, I think it’s natural that players’ form will ebb and flow. You have those patches where everything goes in, just like there are spells where nothing will go in. Don’t forget, he can do all the work just as he always did in terms of assists, but even then he’s reliant on his strikers putting the ball in the back of the net. I think he’s still dangerous, because he can damage you in the final third, and in his own third he has that passing range to set up a goal from deep. The way he’s playing, he’s always a threat. I think Cole Palmer’s reputation is going to blossom again when he’s linking up with Liam Delap. I think Liam’s going to be putting away more chances than Nicolas Jackson. Liam’s going to improve the team overall. He can hold the ball up, he’s like a wall up front, able to bring others into play. Not only does he take chances, but he creates them for himself, and he can do everything Jackson can do, with runs in behind. Cole’s going to love that, he knows that when he sends the ball into the box, Liam will be there."

While Palmer's first half of the season was much better than his second, he still played a crucial role in their Conference League final win over Real Betis, where he bagged two assists. Nobody can doubt the ex-City man's quality, but performing each week will be the goal for next season.

Chelsea round off their Club World Cup group stage campaign against ES Tunis on Wednesday. Delap and Palmer will hope to fire the Blues to victory in that encounter as they aim to progress to the competition's knockout stages.