“It would be daft not to build a team around him” - Ex-Spurs star suggests Tuchel must choose 22-year-old as main man ahead of Jude Bellingham
Chris Waddle has urged Thomas Tuchel to build his England starting XI around Chelsea star Cole Palmer than Jude Bellingham. The former Tottenham man believes that the former Manchester City player is the main man over the Real Madrid star.
Speaking to Prime Casino, Waddle stated that Palmer is more creative and has been outstanding for Chelsea since moving in 2023. He added that the Englishman can do more than Bellingham in the free role, saying (via Metro):
“Cole Palmer always catches the eye. He’s a great creative player. People forget the creative part of the game is the hardest part of football. I think Cole Palmer has been absolutely outstanding for Chelsea. He’s got so much ability, and he scores goals. [Jude] Bellingham’s a very good player, but you’ve got to give Cole Palmer the license for England that he has at Chelsea. You’ve got to build a team around him. England are blessed in the midfield. With Palmer, the way he plays and the way he sees things. He sees a pass more than any other player we’ve got. It would be daft not to build a team around him.”
Cole Palmer has scored 13 goals in the Premier League this season while assisting six times. Jude Bellingham has done well for Real Madrid and has notched 7 goals and got five assists in 15 LaLiga matches.
Rio Ferdinand backs Jude Bellingham over Cole Palmer
Rio Ferdinand heaped praise on Cole Palmer last year but still believes that Jude Bellingham is better than the Chelsea man. Speaking on his podcast, the Manchester United legend claimed that the Real Madrid midfielder had more pressure because he was delivering at Santiago Bernabeu and said:
“I think it’s under 21 years old, he’s got the most goal involvements over Jude Bellingham in Europe. It’s a fact, he’s doing it, he’s doing it. I’m not saying he’s better than Jude. He’s nowhere near as good as Jude in my eyes. For every one goal that Jude scores, most other clubs it’s probably three or four goals it counts as, you know what I mean? Because it’s Bernabeu, it’s at the Bernabeu, it’s at Real. It’s different.”
Cole Palmer played just 146 minutes for England at EURO 2024 and managed to get a goal and an assist. Jude Bellingham started all seven matches and got two goals in the tournament, along with one assist.
