Cole Palmer has lifted the first major individual prize of his career after the Chelsea forward was named PFA Young Player of the Year.
Palmer, 22, was named by his fellow professionals as the best young player of last season after scoring an incredible 22 Premier League goals and notching 11 assists.
He collected the PFA award from Blues legend Gianfranco Zola at a ceremony at the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday.
The England forward, who left Manchester City for Chelsea in the summer of 2023 for £42.5 million, proved to be one of the best signings of last year and lit up an otherwise dismal season for the Blues.
Highlights included scoring a hat-trick to snatch a last-gasp win over Manchester United in April and then plundering four goals in a 6-0 hammering of Everton.
Palmer scored all nine penalties he took for Chelsea in the Premier League last season.
The only player to score more times from the spot in one season is legendary Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, who struck 10 penalties in the 2009-10 season.
Chelsea lost their first game of the season against Palmer’s former side Manchester City. They visit Wolves on Sunday amid a backdrop of chaos already, with Raheem Sterling hitting out at the club for not being included in the squad against City and Enzo Fernandez controversially being named captain despite his involvement in Argentina’s racist chanting after the Copa America final.
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