COLE PALMER grew up worshipping Wayne Rooney and has also been mentored by Raheem Sterling.
Now the Chelsea star is set to emulate both his heroes after Gareth Southgate handed the in-form forward a first senior England call-up.
Palmer, 21, has been impressive for the Blues and showed nerves of steel to score a last-gasp penalty leveller against former side Manchester City in Sunday’s thrilling 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge.
And that was his fourth successful spot-kick of the season, earning him the nickname ‘Cool Palmer’.
But the attacker — from Wythenshawe in Manchester — admits despite growing up playing for City’s academy, he was a huge fan of United and their 253-goal all-time record scorer Rooney as a kid.
Palmer said: “What a player. When I was growing up I used to watch all the football and the one that sticks in my mind is Rooney.
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“Ever since I was a little kid he has been my footballing hero.”
If selected by boss Southgate, Palmer will get another chance to impress against minnows Malta in England’s dead-rubber Euros qualifier on Friday night at Wembley.
And it is the same iconic stage where Rooney scored many of his 53 goals in 120 Three Lions appearances.
It was only in July that Palmer celebrated a Euros triumph with England’s Under-21s as a fringe player with boyhood club City.
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Palmer chose to leave Pep Guardiola’s remarkable Treble winners in an initial £40million deal on deadline day in September.
Despite netting a belter for City in the Community Shield against Arsenal in August, the Mancunian was left unconvinced by boss Guardiola’s promise of more game time at the Etihad following Jeremy Doku’s £55.5m arrival from Rennes.
Palmer, who can play as a No 10 or on either flank, had believed he could enjoy a breakthrough season with Riyad Mahrez off to Saudi Arabia.
But that all changed when Belgian winger Doku was signed just two weeks later.
City supporters may have thought Palmer would show the same patience and play the waiting game like fellow local lad Phil Foden — who is also in the England senior squad.
Straight-talking Palmer hinted that he had itchy feet at the Premier League champions after last March’s England U21s friendly defeat to Croatia at Fulham’s Craven Cottage.
Palmer, who scored on his Young Lions debut in September 2021 against Kosovo following a delightful Cruyff turn, had only made five starts for City at that point.
None of those had come in the league during a “tough” campaign.
When asked about Foden’s impressive patience, Palmer replied: “You can take inspiration from that — but not everyone is the same.
“People have different paths. City’s thing is not to let you go out on loan, which I respect.
“That’s the thing that they do, try to keep you around the first team and learn from the best players. I need a run of games.”
Palmer’s lack of minutes at the Etihad meant that U21 regulars probably saw more of him than fans of his club.
And Guardiola’s insistence last week that he would never block a move for any of his City players has been treated with scepticism by Palmer’s own camp.
After all, in the summer Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva were both denied moves.
But Palmer was allowed to go because Guardiola believed him to be expendable and City wanted the hefty fee to help them with Financial Fair Play compliance.
Since moving south to London, Palmer’s friendship with Sterling, 28, has been key to him settling into his new environment.
Palmer, already close to Sterling from their time at City, was asked about his team-mate in a word association game shown by Sky Sports and he immediately replied with “big brother”.
Having the fellow winger waiting for him at Stamford Bridge — after becoming Chelsea’s final signing of the summer window — helped him hit the ground running.
Palmer has now become a star but he admits to needing help from his mum Janet having moved into a new house in Surrey, close to the club’s training ground in Cobham.
He admitted: “I need to learn how to cook and use a washing machine.
“But on the pitch hopefully I will get better and better with each game.”
Insiders at Chelsea say Palmer is a shy lad for whom a football pitch is much more his comfort zone.
He has already described this year as “surreal” — even before his call-up into Southgate’s Three Lions squad in place of injured Tottenham midfielder James Maddison.
Palmer was a man on a mission during last summer’s Under-21 Euros in Georgia, where he started the tournament as back-up to Noni Madueke, now a team-mate at Chelsea.
He took Madueke’s spot and was sensational in a 3-0 semi-final win over Israel.
Palmer kept his place for their triumph over Spain in the final and is now a shining light for Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues at club level.
I need to learn how to cook and work a washing machine… but hopefully I get better and better on the pitch
Cole Palmer
SunSport understands Chelsea will have to give City a small additional payment if Palmer gets on the pitch for the Group C games against either Malta or North Macedonia three days later.
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But it will be a modest sum as the total of all the add-ons in the deal was around £2.5m.
Thrive on his expected Lions debut in this international window and it will not be long before people start questioning if Guardiola let him go on the cheap.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
