Wesley Fofana believes that Cole Palmer is on par with Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, and the Chelsea sensation can now be unleashed after his first strike in nearly three months during the 2-0 win over Everton. Palmer spearheaded the Blues to their first win in December, with the 23-year-old breaking the deadlock through a composed finish.
The England star slipped the ball beyond his Three Lions colleague Jordan Pickford on 21 minutes to open the scoring, before Malo Gusto extended the hosts’ advantage just prior to the interval. It marked Palmer’s first goal for Chelsea since September 17, with the midfielder sidelined for the bulk of that period due to a groin problem.
Fofana, who played the full 90 minutes for the Blues on Saturday, was swift to praise Palmer’s significance and even drew comparisons between the Chelsea talent and his France team-mates Mbappe and Dembele.
« He is a star, he is the best player on the team, » said Fofana. « When he is on the pitch, he is a different player. Everyone sees tonight, he just played 50 minutes but all the stadium and all the fans see he is very important for the team.
« We are very happy he is back and hopefully he can stay fit and try to help the team.
« He is close with the guys like Mbappe and Dembele. He is very, very close. I play with very good players for the national team and play against very good players. He is top. He is on a different planet and we are very happy to have him with us. »
Fofana delivered an impressive display for Chelsea as they claimed a clean sheet against Everton, with the 24-year-old centre-back contributing to another shutout performance.
The ex-Leicester star has been instrumental in securing five clean sheets across his previous seven outings in all competitions.
Fofana has developed an effective defensive partnership alongside Trevoh Chalobah, which currently appears to be Enzo Maresca’s preferred centre-back combination.
Nevertheless, the Chelsea boss regularly rotates his lineup from match to match to manage the demanding fixture list, which suits Fofana perfectly given his history of injury problems.
« For me, I talk a lot with the manager, » Fofana revealed. « The programme is good for now, just play one game a week.
« The team feels good. The manager picks the team, and the guys that are on the bench stay focused because we are together. The guys that come in, the guys that go out, we are together and we work hard. It is the manager’s decision; we just follow and try to win the game. »
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