Cole Palmer tipped to become a Ballon d'Or winner as Chelsea co-directors explain how they lured 'maverick' forward away from Man City

The England international had a dream debut campaign at Stamford Bridge as he emerged as the club's highest scorer with 27 goals in 48 appearances across all competitions. Palmer's magnificent performances for the Blues were rewarded as he was nominated for the 2024 Ballon d'Or.

While Palmer's chances of winning the Golden Ball this year are slim, Chelsea co-directors Stewart and Winstanley feel that the star player can go on and claim the prestigious award in the future. They also revealed how the club managed to sign the talented 22-year-old from reigning champions Manchester City last summer.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Winstanley said when asked if Palmer can be crowned the best player in the world one day: "No doubt he can, no doubt. He’s got a bit of maverick personality on the pitch, you can see that. You can see it in training, you can see it in the games. He’s got that ability."

Stewart added on how Chelsea signed Palmer: "We didn’t think necessarily that we’d be able to get him here really, did we? There was a feeling that ‘no, Cole Palmer won’t be for sale’. We’d been speaking about him throughout that window and then as it came towards the latter stage of the window, we felt like we wanted to do something else and do something around that area of the pitch. He came up again and we all said ‘let’s go for it, let’s see what’s possible’. And then there seemed to be a little bit of feedback that there could be something there."

Winstanley continued: "He showed great desire to come here and that’s the sort of player we want, the personality and the desire to come here.”

Enzo Maresca's Chelsea side, who are unbeaten in their last seven matches across all competitions, will next take on Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday at Anfield.