Palmer has been a revelation since becoming a blue.

The 2023/24 campaign read as follows: 27 goals and 15 assists at club level, multiple individual awards, a full England debut, and scoring in the European Championship final. It couldn't have gone much better on a personal front.

The 2024/25 season has seen Palmer reach new heights under the guidance of Enzo Maresca, a coach he knows well from their time together at Manchester City, where the pair won Premier League 2 with the Under-23s in 2021 and claimed a treble as part of the senior set-up in 2023.

Palmer already has 11 goals and six assists in the Premier League this season, meaning he has directly contributed to more than a goal a game in his 15 domestic appearances so far.

‘I feel very proud and privileged to work with Cole,' Maresca said. 'I feel lucky to work with all of them, to be honest. Cole is a different one to the rest but here we have many good players where the head coach, in this case me, would feel happy and proud to work with them.’

Palmer's laid-back personality and approach was on full display at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday when he produced a Panenka penalty with the game still in the balance at 3-2.

It was a moment of genius – one of many over the last 15 months – and Maresca was asked about Palmer's 'different' personality ahead of Sunday's London derby with Brentford.

‘Many top players have that way,' said the Blues head coach. 'They look like they almost don’t care but it’s just their way and being in that way gives them more freedom, they can relax, and you can see Cole is the same way. Cole was this way five years ago and he’s still the same.’

Maresca continued: ‘You don’t need to waste energy to convince him to be a different way. He behaves exactly as he needs, with a focus on football and the important things. The most important thing is he loves football. He is always one of the first out for the session, starts to play with the ball and you can see in that moment who really loves football and those who just play football.’

The 22-year-old's form means barely a press conference goes by where Maresca is not asked about Palmer. It was the case both ahead of Thursday's Conference League game with Astana and Sunday's Premier League clash against Brentford.

Palmer is not even in the Conference League squad but that didn't stop journalists from discussing the England international on Tuesday morning when Maresca was asked if the forward was currently the best player in England.

‘At this moment, he could be,' came the reply, 'but England are lucky because there are so many good players and Cole is one of them. There are so many good players in the Premier League.’

The questions kept coming and Maresca was later asked if Palmer could become world class.

The Italian added: 'Absolutely he can be but as you said, he is only 22 and there are many things he can improve, including that at the moment, everyone is marking him man-to-man, but there are many things he can still improve.'

The idea that Palmer could get even better is sure to fill Chelsea fans with excitement. And opposition defences with dread.