Cole Palmer’s Club World Cup heroics may have shot him up the Ballon d’Or rankings, but he isn’t even bothered.
The England midfielder was the star of the show in the US, scoring twice as Chelsea upset Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in comprehensive fashion with a 3-0 victory.
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It was a repeat of the Conference League final where Palmer took the game by the scruff of the neck with two assists in a 4-1 win after going behind early to Real Betis.
Clearly Chelsea’s best player and now one of the very best in the world, Blues fans are trying to boost Palmer’s Ballon d’Or chances, but he’s not interested.
Asked by talkSPORT contributor Kweku Afari on DAZN if he cares about football’s grandest individual prize, Palmer had a simple reaction.
“Not really,” he said.
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This wasn’t just a humble boast, though, but one that Palmer justified, explaining he won plenty for himself in his debut Chelsea campaign, but has already forgotten it as the team ended up trophyless.
“[I care about] Winning trophies and stuff,” he added.
“Obviously the individual stuff comes with it, like in my first season all the individual awards came with it, but I don’t really think about them too much.”
Palmer’s debut campaign at Stamford Bridge saw him win a flurry of individual awards all while the team finished sixth in the Premier League and failed to land a trophy.
His numbers were outstanding with 25 goals and 15 assists in all competitions, and although he’s dropped down to 18 strikes and 13 provisions in 2024/25 the trophy count has increased as has his reputation for the very biggest prizes.
Currently joint third in the Ballon d’Or odds behind second-place Barcelona star and runaway leader Ousmane Dembele of PSG, Palmer did admit he ‘hopes’ to be in the picture for the top honour, but also explained why he won’t win it this year.
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“Obviously I started really well, I had a bad patch, it was an awful patch, nevermind a bad patch,” he explained, referring to a 26-game run to send the season where he managed just a goal and five assists.
He did, however, turn up for both finals, saying: “I like the finals, I just seem to always like them.”
And while trophies are undoubtedly the aim, there’s still a minimum he wants to achieve, which he’s frustrated about failing to live up to this term.
He explained: “It still is good [his 2024/25 season], but from what I know I could’ve done…
“I just want to score 20 league goals minimum every year.”
