John Obi Mikel has admitted he has concerns over Cole Palmer after his anonymous performance for Chelsea against Flamengo in the Club World Cup.
After a stunning first season at Stamford Bridge, Palmer’s impact at Chelsea dropped off during the 2024-25 campaign.
While he still ended the campaign with a very respectable 15 goals and 12 assists, he managed just one Premier League goal from mid-January onwards – that effort coming from the penalty spot.
The England international endured another quiet evening as Chelsea fell to a 3-1 lead against Brazilian side Flamengo on Friday night.
Palmer was replaced by Marc Guiu with eight minutes of the match remaining while his side were chasing an equaliser.
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Former Blues midfielder Mikel suggested Friday’s performance was the latest in a worrying trend for Palmer, believing his performances are a result of the midfielder becoming a ‘marked man’ among the opposition.
‘It is a bit worrying,’ Mikel told DAZN. ‘Cole is a fantastic player, everything goes through him but sometimes he disappears in games where you don’t see him and that has happened again.
‘But he needs to know that he is now a marked man.
‘You will play against teams and they will know if you take out Cole Palmer, you can nullify the way they play.
‘So he needs to find a different way. Maybe the manager needs to help him in terms of navigating games and opponents.
‘Maybe try to free him, give him more space. If he plays well, we play well, so I hope the combination between him and [Liam] Delap will get better.
‘So [I am] a little bit worried but Cole is a fantastic player and will hopefully continue to develop.’
Chelsea won their opening game of the Club World Cup against LAFC on Monday but defeat to Flamengo means they need a win over Tunisia’s ES Tunis next week to guarantee qualification for the knockout stages of the competition.
They will be without Nicolas Jackson for that match after the striker was shown a straight red card just four minutes after coming off the bench to replace Liam Delap.
