RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: No wonder they call him COLD Palmer… as rival defenders fly past him in the heat of battle, Chelsea’s swaggering young star has ice in his veins

For a study of Chelsea's level of competence, there were two moments at Luton that did really well.

First, the ridiculous: Nicolas Jackson was busted for the kind of bad throw you wouldn't get away with in a sub-10 second game. Then the sublime: Cole Palmer and the second of his two great goals at Kenilworth Road.

It combined the quality of Jackson's ball with Palmer's devilish foot roll to round the keeper and the poise he then showed in tempting lunges from Gabriel Osho and Amari'i Bell before putting a finish between the bodies. It is not without reason that they call him 'Cold Palmer' within the team.

That goal was first-class, as was his opener, and there was also the more mundane contribution of an assist for Noni Madueke, who scored his second goal in a week. Chelsea being Chelsea, they turned a 3-0 win into a panic at 3-2, indicative of their alarming weaknesses, but the uplifting side story of their season was Palmer.

Any performance of this level makes you wonder if Manchester City did anything to sell the 21-year-old for £40 million. Todd Boehly and his recruitment gurus haven't gotten much value for their £1 billion float, and City are doing little wrong in that department, but in Palmer they both seem to have behaved strangely.

His figures for the season have been supplemented by four penalties, but are still hugely impressive: eight goals and four assists, making him pale in comparison. Only Jude Bellingham with fifteen goals scores more goals among under-21 players in Europe's top five leagues.

“It's clear he's an important player for us,” Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino reportedly said after the match. 'A decisive player.'

It is tempting to think that Palmer could soon find greater fame for England. His international involvement amounts to 35 minutes during November's qualifiers against North Macedonia and Malta, but even taking into account all of Gareth Southgate's creative resources, there is certainly a place for him at this summer's European Championships.

If he's not a starter, he's exactly the kind of talent you should invest some tournament experience into for the future.

In such conversations it is relevant that he is currently proving to be more effective for Pochettino than Raheem Sterling, whose form has improved in recent months but was omitted at Luton in favor of Madueke.

The England star stole the show with two goals and an assist in Chelsea's 3-2 win over Hatters

If Sterling went to Germany and not Palmer would be contrary to the accumulating domestic evidence. In the bigger picture, Pochettino could talk about a little momentum for his side heading into 2024, after back-to-back wins against Crystal Palace and Luton. They feel like a crumb of positivity considering how far Chelsea have fallen, putting a premium on their January turnover.

They are looking at two to four newcomers, prioritizing a goal scorer and trimming fat through some spending. The mystery is how much involvement Pochettino will have in the decision-making.

A bloated, young squad needs to be thinned out, but it also requires the poise and strength that has somehow been lost in their market misfortunes. It was striking that only 39-year-old Thiago Silva had the presence of mind this weekend to know in the final twenty minutes that the match was slipping.

His arm-waving tirade at the final whistle was followed by a social media apology that was hardly necessary: ​​Palmer's goals had secured the win, but Silva's late blocks and leadership ensured they didn't throw it away. It is the isolated successes in 2023 that Chelsea would like to forget.