Gareth Southgate has praised Cole Palmer for an ‘outstanding’ debut season at Chelsea after the forward was included in the latest England squad.
Palmer has been named in the England squad for March’s fixtures with Brazil and Belgium as the 21-year-old looks to build on the two senior caps he won last November.
The forward has had a tremendous breakthrough season since signing for Chelsea from Manchester City last summer, having scored 11 goals and provided eight assists in the Premier League this season.
No u-21 player in Europe’s top five leagues has been directly involved in more goals than Palmer, who will hope to stake his claim for a place in the England side ahead of Euro 2024.
Southgate has been full of praise for Palmer – who won the u-21 European Championship with England last summer – and called the Chelsea starlet an outstanding ‘technical finisher’.
“You can see and have always been able to see the quality he has,” Southgate said at a press conference.
“You could see last year how outstanding a technical finisher he was.
“He’s shown great composure in some real pressure moments for his club. He’s adaptable – he can play two or three positions.
“He’s had an outstanding season and, again, is in on merit as everyone else is.”
