Chelsea heading for Hazard repeat with £96m star

Chelsea are flying right now, claiming a fourth successive Premier League victory on Sunday afternoon, fighting back from 2-0 down to defeat fierce rivals Spurs 4-3 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Jadon Sancho and Enzo Fernández both pulled off long-range strikes, while Cole Palmer converted a pair of second-half penalties, the second of which was an audacious, impudent Panenka.

This means Palmer has now converted 12 out of 12 spot-kicks in the Premier League, the most any player has taken without ever missing one, surpassing the previous record held by Yaya Touré, and that wasn’t a bad way to do it, was it?

This victory lifts Enzo Maresca’s team clear of both Arsenal and Manchester City, now very much Liverpool’s nearest-challengers, just four points adrift the league-leaders, albeit the Reds have a game in hand.

Given that the Blues’ next seven opponents are Brentford, Everton, Fulham, Ipswich, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Wolves, they’re likely to hang around the title conversation a little while longer yet.

Chelsea star wanted by Europe’s elite

Following Sunday’s game, Jamie Carragher stated on Sky Sports that he believes Palmer has been the best-performing player in the Premier League since the start of last season.

Well, based on these statistics, it’s hard to dispute that claim.

As shown by this table, just seven players have accumulated 30+ goals and assists in the Premier League since the start of last season, with Palmer’s brace at Tottenham meaning he has had more direct goal involvement than any other player during this time-frame, one more than Mohamed Salah, albeit having made three more appearances.

The English star’s phenomenal form is not going unnoticed because, as claims from Spain suggest in recent days, Real Madrid are interested in signing the Englishman, with president Florentino Pérez allegedly admiring his ‘qualities and potential to become a global icon’.

The Blues signed Palmer for £42.5m, which now appears to be an absolute bargain, with CIES Football Observatory believing his value has more than doubled in 18 months, stating he is worth around £96m, which is probably a conservative estimate.

Having signed a further two-year extension in August, Palmer is now contracted to Chelsea until 2033, meaning he would not come cheap, with the aforementioned report acknowledging that ‘the player’s price tag would be a major obstacle’.

An Eden Hazard repeat for Chelsea

Historically, Real Madrid do seem to have a habit when it comes to poaching the Premier League’s premier talent; David Beckham (2003), Cristiano Ronaldo (2009), Xabi Alonso (2009), Luka Modrić (2012) and Gareth Bale (2013) all spring to mind.

We’ve intentionally left Real Madrid’s all-time record signing off this list, because that may be a rather sensitive issue for Chelsea supporters given that, despite the countless number of Galácticos that have donned the famous all-white kit at the Bernabéu over the decades, Eden Hazard’s £88.5m move from Chelsea remains the most Los Blancos have ever paid for any player.

Fair to say, this transfer was not a success, given that the Belgian made only 76 appearances for Los Merengues, scoring a miserly seven goals, before unceremoniously retiring without a club at the age of 32 in October 2023.

Of course, should Real Madrid make a move for Palmer, they’d certainly be seeking to avoid a sense of déjà vu, but considering Palmer is just 22 years old, there’s minimal chance of this happening.

In more modern times, the Champions League specialists have shown a willingness to spend big on young talents: Aurélien Tchouaméni (£66m), Vinícius Júnior (£40m), and of course Jude Bellingham’s £88m move the clearest recent examples.

Nevertheless, the Spanish giants may be forced to break their all-time record fee should they wish to sign Chelsea’s star attacker, as they did five years ago.