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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Jamie Dickenson

Chelsea: Gary Neville claims Cole Palmer is 'not far off' being Premier League's best player

Gary Neville has admitted Cole Palmer is ‘completely shocking’ him with his form for Chelsea.

Palmer had a stunning first season at the Blues following his £40million switch from Manchester City, scoring 22 league goals and winning the Premier League Young Player of the Year award.

And the 22-year-old continued in that vein by scoring all four of Chelsea’s goals in their 4-2 win over Brighton on Saturday.

Palmer made history as the first player to score four goals in a Premier League game and afterwards Blues boss Enzo Maresca claimed he was the best player in the division.

Cole Palmer scored all four of Chelsea’s goals in the 4-2 win over Brighton (Getty Images)

When asked whether he agreed with Maresca that Palmer was the best player in the Premier League, Manchester United great Neville told NBC Sports: “He’s not far off! I have to say that I was surprised last season.

“I remember when Mohamed Salah scored those goals all those years ago and I thought, ‘He won’t repeat that in the second season, he won’t repeat that in the third season’, and Cole Palmer is just going and completely shocking me in terms of what he’s delivering.

“I can’t believe the level that he’s getting to and to think that he wasn’t playing for England in the European Championship in the summer now just seems absolutely ridiculous.

“And it seems even more ridiculous that Manchester City, who have been unbelievable in the transfer market, have let one of their own go.”

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