Emmanuel Petit has hailed Chelsea star Cole Palmer as the best player in the Premier League and is confident he stands a chance of becoming a future Ballon d’Or winner.
Palmer’s scintillating form has helped power the Blues’ unlikely title challenge which took a major step forward last week following a stunning comeback win over Tottenham.
The England international scored two second half penalties, the second of which was an audacious Panenka, to take his tally for the season up to 11 for the campaign.
‘He can change the game any time he wants,’ the former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder told talkSPORT. ‘Every time he gets the ball, you get a feeling he can have an impact straight away on the result.
‘You can see that every time he gets the ball, all his teammates want to play with him, the movement around him.
‘You can see the opponents as well, every time Cole Palmer gets the ball, you can feel the opponent is stressed.’
He added: ‘I’ve met different players, top players with the same abilities and personality on the pitch.
‘For example, I played with Rivaldo at Barcelona, and Zidane in the national team. Every time we used to give them the ball, it changed something on the pitch.
‘It brings more confidence from the teammates because you want to play with those kinds of players, you want to bring movement around them and you want to be part of it with them.’
Asked whether Palmer was capable of getting his hands on the award scooped by Manchester City’s Rodri earlier this year, Petit was a little more circumspect.
‘Lamine] Yamal at Barcelona, Vinicius or maybe [Kylian] Mbappe, if he comes back,’ said Petit, sighting three possible rivals.
‘He [Palmer] has to show his abilities every single weekend. This is what he’s doing right now. He’s been playing like that now for 16 months already.
‘If he wants to reach his dream, he has to do that on the highest level. Which means the Champions League and as well with the national team.’
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