Chelsea are brewing a “world-class” superstar who’ll surpass Hazard & Salah
da dobrowin: It’s been a rough few weeks for Chelsea.
da cassino online: A draw against Brentford, a loss to Manchester United, and a wholly unconvincing win over Lincoln City in the League Cup have led some to question the direction of the team.
However, we are still early in the season, and the Blues have a squad full of brilliant talents from Joao Pedro and Estevao in attack to Moises Caicedo in midfield and Reece James in defence.
Moreover, one of the players in Enzo Maresca has the ability and potential to someday surpass the greatness of superstars like Mohamed Salah and Eden Hazard.
Hazard & Salah's peak seasons
With the Premier League being the biggest in world football, it has attracted some generational world-class talents, such as Salah and Hazard.
There will always be debates over which player was the best, and while we aren’t necessarily here to weigh in on that debate, it’s worth looking at their best individual seasons.
Both of them have a number of campaigns you could pick from, but when it comes to the Liverpool star, it is impossible to look past what he achieved last season.
For example, in addition to winning the title, the Egyptian superstar amassed a staggering tally of 34 goals and 23 assists in 52 appearances.
That means the dynamic winger was able to maintain an average of 1.09 goal involvements every game, or one every 78.96 minutes.
When it comes to the Belgian, we’d suggest he was at the peak of his powers in the 14/15 season, as even though he produced more goal involvements in 18/19, he did not win the league.
Across his 52 appearances in the former, totalling 4442 minutes, the retired superstar scored 19 goals and provided 13 assists.
In other words, he averaged a goal involvement every 1.62 games, or every 138.81 minutes.
Overall, both Salah and Hazard are some of the best players to ever play in the Premier League, and for our money, Chelsea have someone in their current squad who could surpass both.
The Chelsea star who could surpass Hazard & Salah
Now, as we’ve already mentioned, there are more than a handful of incredibly gifted players in this Chelsea squad, from Pedro to Estevao and more.
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However, to even get close to matching, let alone surpassing, the levels of Salah and Hazard, you’ve got to be more than just a special talent.
Fortunately, the Blues do have a certain player who looks like he could go on to be a future Ballon d’Or winner: Cole Palmer.
Yes, of course, the Englishman is the player we are talking about, as he just finished eighth in the prestigious award earlier this week, which represents a significant improvement over his 25th-place finish last year.
However, while already featuring on those lists twice, at 23 years old should tell you enough about the talent we are talking about here, let’s take a look at some of his numbers since moving to Stamford Bridge.
In his first season with the club, the “world-class” superstar, as dubbed by Pat Nevin, scored 25 goals and provided 15 assists in 3613 minutes, which comes out to a goal involvement every 1.12 games, or every 90.32 minutes.
Then, last season, the former Manchester City gem scored 18 goals and provided 14 assists in 52 appearances, totalling 4,247 minutes, which comes out to a goal involvement every 1.62 games, or every 132.71 minutes.
Finally, so far this season, he has scored two goals in four appearances, totalling 235 minutes, which is one every other game or every 117.5 minutes.
Overall, the England international has already amassed a tally of 45 goals and 29 assists in 101 games for the club, and while he’s out injured at the moment, we have no doubt those numbers will only improve.
Palmer’s Chelsea record
Appearances
101
Minutes
8095′
Goals
45
Assists
29
Goal Involvements per Match
0.73
Minutes per Goal Involvements
109.39′
All Stats via Transfermarkt
Ultimately, Palmer still has some way to go before he surpasses either Salah or Hazard, but based on what we’ve seen from him over the last couple of years, we have no doubt he’ll get there eventually.