Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has now been full of praise for one Chelsea player based on his recent form.
He told ESPN that he has been really impressed by the form of Cole Palmer, as well as a number of other English players who play a similar role to him.
Palmer has arguably been Chelsea’s player of the season so far, which is even more impressive when taking into account this is essentially his first campaign as a regular senior player.
He found regular first team appearances hard to come by at Manchester City, and this is why he was open to what turned into a £45m deadline day move to Stamford Bridge last summer.
His strong showings have already seen him rewarded with a call up to the international side, where he was handed his debut by England manager Gareth Southgate.
When asked about players on the fringes of the starting side at the Euros this summer, Rice mentioned Palmer as a player who could break into the setup for good.
Rice praises Palmer
He said: “I feel like it is the conversation every time a tournament comes around. A lot of players are obviously playing really well. So many players in the Premier League: Jarrod Bowen at West Ham, Ross Barkley at Luton, Cole Palmer [Chelsea], Curtis Jones[Liverpool], so many players playing well.”
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Rice will almost certainly be one of the first names on the teamsheet for the Three Lions by the time the tournament comes around, and many Chelsea fans will be wondering why that is not the case for their first team too.
The Arsenal man was a long term target for the Blues, with his connections to the club well known off the back of his time here as an academy player.
After two consecutive busy transfer windows, Chelsea decided instead to go down the route of signing Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo for consecutive record fees.
