In New York’s Times Square, there are giant billboards this morning featuring Chelsea star Cole Palmer. And the 23-year-old, who was once waived by Manchester City’s boss Pep Guardiola, has risen straight to the stratosphere.Palmer’s fantastic performance against Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup showdown at MetLife Stadium on Sunday single-handedly pushed the Blues to a jaw-dropping 3-0 win and another trophy. It’s no surprise he was subsequently named the Player of the Tournament.CWC: European title is okay, but Chelsea is the new champion of the world!As our BBC colleagues pointed out in their feature story, Palmer’s fame could reach another level after this first-half brace, followed by a brilliant assist for Joao Pedro, which sealed Chelsea’s blitzkrieg against the favourites.As if that recent Conference League triumph wasn’t enough, the cold-blooded, versatile forward ensured his name reappeared in all headlines.First, he slotted it low past Gianluigi Donnarumma before scoring almost a carbon copy of that opener just eight minutes later. Finally, his defence-splitting pass put the ball on the plate for Joao Pedro to lob Donnarumma just before half-time.Cole Palmer reacts after sealing Chelsea’s world title 🏆What a night ⭐GLOBAL HOME OF FOOTBALL | Live All Summer Long | https://t.co/i0K4eUtwwb | #FIFACWC #TakeItToTheWorld #CHEPSG pic.twitter.com/LOBSIOxtmW— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) July 13, 2025 That was the same Palmer who, at some point in the recent past, went 18 games without scoring and recently admitted he had endured a “difficult time these past whatever months on and off the pitch”.Those days, however, seem far behind for the player who has rightfully earned his previous nickname, Cold. This latest one – Gold – is even more accurate.”Obviously, it’s a great feeling,” Palmer said on DAZN. “Even better because obviously everyone doubted us before the game.”But to go out there and put a fight on like we did against a great team, it’s good.”I like finals and it happened again,” he added of his goals, which equalled his total for his previous 29 appearances for club and country combined and took him to 18 for the season in total.##NAJAVA_MECA_9013146##”The gaffer put a great game plan out. He knew where the space was going to be. I just had to repay him and score some goals.”He’s building something special, something important,” he added of head coach Enzo Maresca before making a comment that caused DAZN to later apologise for his strong language.”Everyone has talked a lot of s*** about us all season, but I feel like we are going in the right direction,” concluded the emotionally overwhelmed Chelsea hero.
