The deceptively casual demeanor Cole Palmer has displayed in his Chelsea debut season can conceal the lack of major league experience the 21-year-old had prior to relocating to west London.
Palmer became a member of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City superteam at the age of six, but he was only given three Premier League starts. Chelsea spent £42.5 million on a promising attacking midfield player who, in comparison to Liverpool’s goalkeeper Alisson (one goal, three assists), has neither assists nor goals in the league.
The risk has definitely paid off. Palmer has performed brilliantly even in Mauricio Pochettino’s disorganized team, cruising through matches and stroking the ball into the net with startling regularity. Palmer scored more Premier League goals in his first season than any Chelsea player did in the whole previous campaign before the halfway point.
Palmer has had lots of chances to develop his signature goal celebration during this amazing run of success. Following his recent strikes, the player dubbed “Cold Palmer” has taken to shivering, but the significance of the move goes beyond his moniker.
Cole Palmer started his shivering celebration when?
Cole Palmer’s cutting goal at Kenilworth Road gives Chelsea the lead 🎯 pic.twitter.com/bWvoRxoVgQ
— TNT Sports’ football (@footballontnt) 30 December 2023
Within weeks of joining Chelsea, Palmer traded in “Cole” for “Cold.” On his first league start against Burnley, the ephemeral left-footer made history by becoming just the second 21-year-old to ever score a Premier League penalty for the Blues. The following week, when Arsenal came to Stamford Bridge, he further cemented his reputation for extraordinary composure.
Palmer rejected the persistent advances of his former City teammate in order to take and score a penalty against the Gunners in the first half. There was no argument when Guardiola’s City team got to west London; Palmer took over in stoppage time and calmly scored a 95th-minute penalty kick against a goalie he had only called his colleague three months earlier.
Nevertheless, Palmer shrugged indifferently and celebrated that callous penalty. Palmer said, “It would have been disrespectful to go and celebrate how I would [normally] celebrate if I had scored an equalizer in the 95th minute, so I just decided to do a shrug.” I’m not sure why.
Palmer did not reveal a celebration that encapsulated his early Chelsea career until the Blues’ 2023 season-ending trip to Luton Town. The hosts gave up possession in their own defensive third with such cheap grace that Luton’s backline appeared to be lacking in composure. Palmer lunged forward, giving Chelsea a first-half lead, then wheeled back to rub his arms and fix his gaze on the closest camera.
In the 70th minute, Palmer scored an even better goal to put the visitors ahead 3-0. He rolled the ball around Luton’s confused goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski, taking a beat as orange shirts crashed past him like fire engines heading towards the wrong fire, and finished with a cold finish.
“That’s why we call him Cold Palmer!” exclaimed triumphantly Noni Madueke, a friend of Palmer’s from their adolescent days on England’s youth team, following the game.
Cole Palmer’s chilling celebration’s backstory
Palmer was quick to point out that Morgan Rogers, his former Manchester City academy teammate, was the one who came up with the shivering stance after Chelsea defeated Luton.
Palmer said, “I told him I’d do it too if I scored,” alluding to Rogers’ celebration against West Bromwich Albion in the Championship seven days before Chelsea took to the Kenilworth Road field. “My boy Morgs did one for Middlesbrough,” Palmer said.
Rogers had also performed his shivering celebration in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals against Port Vale earlier that month. In a 3-0 victory, Rogers stunned Connor Ripley—son of former Premier League champion Stuart Ripley—with a spectacular strike, paving the way for a two-leg semifinal matchup with Palmer’s Chelsea.
Rogers missed the first leg due to suspension, but Middlesbrough prevailed 1-0 without him. Palmer had two fantastic opportunities to score and carry out Rogers’ celebration on his own field, but he missed them.
When the two square off for the second leg at Stamford Bridge on January 23, pay attention to the shivering figures on the pitch as the fans in the crowd grit their teeth.
