Player Profile: Cole Palmer

Lets have a brief look at our newest recruit.......

Cole Palmer

Player profile;

Age: 21

Nationality: English

Position: Attacking Midfielder/Winger

Height: 6ft

Palmer came through the Manchester City academy, joining them at just 7 years-old. He has never cemented a space in City’s first team with the likes of KDB, Alvarez, Foden, Silva, Mahrez and Grealish all keeping him to limited minutes.

He boasts a pretty good record for goal involvements, on average being involved in one goal every 180 minutes, not bad for someone who has had limited opportunities. He also has 8 goal involvements in 13 appearances for England U21s at an average of a goal involvement every 97 mins played. He played a key part in winning the U21 Euro’s this summer alongside Noni Madueke & Levi Colwill.

He already has excellent relationships with the two players I mentioned above along with the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka, Romeo Lavia, Raheem Sterling and Conor Gallagher, playing with all of these players for either City or at England youth levels.

Style of play;

Palmer is an extremely versatile player, although predominantly playing as a Right-Winger or an attacking midfielder he can also comfortably play on the Left-Wing, as a No8 and as a false 9.

His stats are absolutely incredible and taking into account the amount of minutes played he ranks in the top 1% of Midfielders in EUROPE for the following metrics; Non-penalty XG, Shots, Progressive Carries, Successful Take-Ons, Touches & Progressive Passes received.

He also ranks in the top 20% of Midfielders in Europe for; Assists, Non-Penalty XGI (expected goal involvement), Shot-Creating Actions and Pass Completion. His shooting from long-range is one of his biggest assets with excellent accuracy and quite a few goals from long range this is something we can look forward to seeing.

Palmer is an excellent carrier of the ball, he dribbles elegantly and his decision making of when to release the ball on the dribble is excellent. He is intelligent with his first touches, scanning over his shoulders and taking the ball away from the nearest defender.

He has a really solid injury history with just the one major injury, which was back in January 2022.

A couple of clips below that are worth watching;

Verdict;

Exactly what we needed, somebody versatile who will not restrict the minutes of returning injured players, but also with the capabilities to break into the team and make a starting role his own.

To get a player of his talent from a (potential) direct rival is brilliant, especially when there are not many player of his profile around or for 40m.

Luke Rushbrook