Chelsea have built a team full of brilliant game-changers over the last few years, but it’s still clear who their most important player is: Cole Palmer.
The Englishman joined the club from Manchester City just two years ago and is already considered by many to be one of the best players in the Premier League, and it’s not hard to see why.
In 98 appearances, the 23-year-old has scored 43 goals and provided 29 assists, resulting in a goal involvement every 1.36 games.
However, as with every club, Chelsea have also let a number of sensational talents leave too early, including one who’s even better than Palmer.
Chelsea's biggest transfer regrets
It would be fair to say that Chelsea have made their fair share of regrettable sales over the years, with Kevin De Bruyne being one of the most notable examples.
The Belgian joined the club in January 2012 for a fee of around £7m, but remained with Genk for the rest of that season and then joined Werder Bremen on loan the following year.
Unfortunately for the Blues, then manager José Mourinho didn’t take to the future icon, and after just nine competitive appearances for the club, he was sold to Wolfsburg for £18m in January 2014, where he would go on to produce 57 goal involvements in 73 games, win the DFB Pokal and secure a big money move to Manchester City in August 2015.
We all know what happened next, as the world-class midfielder went on to make 422 appearances for the Sky Blues, scoring 108 goals, providing 177 assists, and winning everything there was to win, including six league titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups, and the Champions League.
While not as successful, another player the Blues surely wish they never sold is the man of the moment, Marc Guehi.
The combative centre-back left the West Londoners for Crystal Palace in the summer of 2021, and did so for only £18m.
Since then, he’s made 161 appearances for the South Londoners, in which he’s scored nine goals, provided four assists and most crucially, led them to a historic FA Cup triumph.
His impressive development at Selhurst Park has also seen him brought into the national team setup and now, with 24 caps to his name, is arguably England’s best centre-back.
Yet, while Chelsea surely regret selling both of these players, there is another international superstar, someone who is better than Palmer, that may be their biggest regret.
The former Chelsea star better than Palmer
With Palmer being one of the best attackers in the Premier League, the player in question has to be truly exceptional to be in with a shout of being better than him, and Mohamed Salah is undoubtedly that.
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.
The Egyptian legend joined the West Londoners in a £11m move from Basel in January 2014, going on to make his debut for the club in a game against Newcastle United the following month.
However, after just 19 appearances over the following year, he moved to Fiorentina on loan in January 2015, where he produced 13 goal involvements in 26 games and caught the eye of AS Roma.
The Italian giants signed the future legend on a season-long loan with an option to buy that summer, an option that was activated for just £12m the following year.
During his time in Rome, the Nagrig-born game-changer racked up a brilliant tally of 34 goals and 21 assists in 83 appearances, totalling 6588, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.50 games, or every 119.78 minutes.
Unsurprisingly, such an incredible run of form started to turn heads back in the Premier League, and in June 2017, two and a half years after he left England, Liverpool spent around £34m to bring him back to these shores.
To say he’s been worth that outlay would be a monstrous understatement.
In the seven years since, he has racked up an astronomical haul of 246 goals and 114 assists in 405 games and played a pivotal role in two Premier League winning campaigns, a Champions League triumph, and the winning of several domestic cups.
How did he stack up to Palmer last season, though?
Appearances
52
52
Minutes
4247′
4501′
Goals
18
34
Assists
14
23
Goal Involvements per Match
0.61
1.09
Minutes per Goal Involvement
132.71′
78.96′
Well, the Englishman scored 18 goals and provided 14 assists in 52 appearances, totalling 4247 minutes, which comes out to a goal involvement every 1.62 games, or every 132.71 minutes.
In contrast, the “world-class” Reds star, as dubbed by Roy Keane, scored 34 goals and provided 23 assists in 52 appearances, totalling 4501 minutes.
In other words, he averaged 1.09 goal involvements per match, or one every 78.96 minutes – a mind-blowing rate of return.
Ultimately, Chelsea have a brilliant squad and in Palmer a genuine world-beater, but it would be fair to say selling Salah was one of the club’s biggest mistakes.
