Cole Palmer has thrived, but how does his record compare against modern Chelsea

Not for the first time this season, Cole Palmer was the only Chelsea player to emerge with serious credit from Saturday’s farcical 2-2 draw with 10-man Burnley.

As well as converting the most memorable of his six successful penalties with an exquisite Panenka, the Manchester City academy graduate then took Raheem Sterling’s sublime flick into his stride in the 78th minute before side-footing effortlessly into the bottom corner of Arijanet Muric’s net.

That impressive double took Palmer’s season tally to 16 goals across all competitions (13 in the league), a figure which remarkably makes him the most prolific goalscorer at Chelsea since Tammy Abraham netted 18 times in 2019-20 — and he still potentially has 12 more matches in the Premier League and FA Cup to surpass that mark.

Set against the startlingly low bar Chelsea have set in the final third in recent seasons, it is already clear that Palmer provides a meaningful scoring upgrade at Stamford Bridge. Then there are his assists: eight in the Premier League and 12 in all competitions, which means he has been directly involved in 28 goals in his 35 appearances this season.

It is an impressive record in any context, but how does it measure against modern Chelsea history? The answer is: very well.

When comparing with the most impactful individual attacking seasons from the recent past at Stamford Bridge, simply looking at raw goal, assist and appearance numbers does not yield the fairest comparison. Many of Palmer’s most illustrious predecessors had significantly more matches in which to be directly involved in goals, not least in extended European campaigns.

Minutes played per goal involvement (goals plus assists) is a much better way of identifying the most prolifically impactful attackers and Palmer’s spectacular 2023-24 season shines by this metric. He has been directly involved in a Chelsea goal on average every 98.6 minutes, a rate bettered only by Didier Drogba’s masterful 2009-10 — in which he averaged a goal or assist every 75.8 minutes — in the last 15 seasons at Stamford Bridge.

That fact is more surprising when you consider that the intervening period at Chelsea included the prime years of several elite attackers — chiefly Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Juan Mata.

Mata’s dazzling 2012-13 campaign featured an almost identical rate of impact, albeit over a much larger sample size: 48 goal involvements (20 scored, 28 assisted) in approximately 2,000 more…