Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has expressed his surprise that no one has made the case for the Reds signing Cole Palmer from Chelsea this summer ahead of Arne Slot’s side taking on the Blues at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
Palmer began the season in excellent form but has then tailed off significantly. Chelsea is chasing the Champions League places, while Liverpool has wrapped up the Premier League title with four games to spare.
“It has been suggested that Liverpool should build for the title defence by breaking the bank for Alexander Isak,” Carragher wrote for The Telegraph. “It surprises me that no one has argued that Cole Palmer should be on the new champions’ radar.
“Far-fetched? Too expensive? Most likely. Liverpool “going big” for footballers who are already established on mammoth and long contracts elsewhere is not their strategy, so if you read headlines saying “Jamie Carragher says Liverpool should buy Palmer”, you are not reading this correctly.
“But predators will be circling and keeping tabs on what is going on at Stamford Bridge. In the first half of this season, Palmer was neck and neck with Mohamed Salah as the best player in the league. His numbers have dropped in the last couple of months, but he is still creating chances.”
Palmer has been superb for Chelsea since he moved to London from Manchester City. But in that period, he has not come close to winning the kind of silverware that someone of his talent should be collecting.
(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“There was a moment during Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat by Brighton and Hove Albion in February which must have set off alarm bells in the Stamford Bridge boardroom,” Carragher continued. “Palmer’s demeanour was one of frustration.
“It reminded me of Steven Gerrard during the more difficult periods at Liverpool, where he was looking around the pitch and realising teammates were not at the required level.
“Gerrard started to ask himself if he was at the right club, prompting Chelsea to try to sign him in three successive summers between 2003-2005. On two occasions they were very close to doing the deal.
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“Not because Liverpool were willing sellers. Not because Liverpool were under any financial pressure to offload any of their assets. Not because our captain and best player had a boyhood dream to move to London. And not because the club were unwilling to fight to keep their superstar.
“The reason the transfer nearly happened was because world-class players can only tolerate mediocrity for so long. Careers are short, and those with ambition who feel their talent is unfulfilled cannot stand waiting.
“They are not interested in hearing about “long-term” projects. They make their judgment at the end of every season whether they need to move on.”
Liverpool.com says: Palmer is superb but he wouldn’t fit at Liverpool under Arne Slot. He doesn’t do the off-the-ball work that Dominik Szoboszlai does and the whole team at Chelsea is built around him. That wouldn’t be the case at Anfield, where Salah is the main man. Aside from that, he is a former Manchester City player who grew up supporting Manchester United.
