One only has to cast their mind back to the Club World Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain to see the Englishman's talent coming to the fore.
Palmer's brilliant Club World Cup showing
Two carbon copy goals and an assist for Joao Pedro were worthy of the 'ice-cold' celebrations that followed.
Just over a month later, however, a groin injury at the start of the 2025/26 campaign saw him miss three weeks of action.
A week after returning from that issue, he picked up a toe injury, which saw him sidelined for a further two months, before two shorter periods either side of the festive period saw him left out for a lack of match fitness and for needing rest.
A thigh injury towards the end of January only compounded Palmer's woes, and by this point in time, he'd also had to get used to the fact that one of his biggest supporters, Enzo Maresca, had been unceremoniously booted out of the club and replaced by the inexperienced Liam Rosenior.
Chelsea's worst-ever UCL defeat
The Italian departed with the Blues in fifth place in the Premier League, and just two and a half months later, Rosenior has overseen their heaviest-ever Champions League defeat (8-2 on aggregate vs PSG) and, despite a great start in the role, he has taken the Blues backwards to sixth.
Though they're well within touching distance of still finishing in the top four, the fact remains that, with eight league games to play, this is now effectively out of the Blues' hands.
Fortunately for Palmer, his new head coach - who might well be dispensed with after Chelsea's UCL humiliation - shares the same fondness for the attacking midfielder's skill set as his predecessor.
The only problem is that the 23-year-old hasn't been firing on all cylinders throughout the current campaign, even when fully fit.
Off the boil in terms of goals
Aside from a hat-trick against bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers, a goal and assist in the following game against Leeds and one more against Aston Villa, Palmer has only scored three more goals going all the way back to mid-September last year.
In a lot of games, he's appeared off the pace at times, and having only played a full 90 minutes on six separate occasions in all competitions since September, it's no wonder he's also seemed disinterested during certain matches.
Owners, BlueCo, have seemingly never suffered fools gladly, be they players or managers, and they surely wouldn't think twice about cashing in on Palmer if they believe that his heart is no longer at Stamford Bridge. Particularly if they can get a pretty penny for his services.
With a contract that runs until June 2033, the Blues can effectively name their price.
What would Chelsea lose if Palmer is sold?
What would they be missing were they even to consider such a scenario, though?
For a start, no one comes close to Palmer's 53 goals and 31 assists in all competitions since he joined the West Londoners from Man City back in 2023.
A 60.2% shot accuracy is only bettered by Nicolas Jackson's 60.5% and Timo Werner's 61.4%, but given their relatively poor output in comparison, Palmer's figures, when taken in context, are far more impressive.
Though his conversion rate of 14.6% isn't the best, once again, when drilling down into the details, it reveals that such a percentage is actually misleading.
363 total shots taken is 111 more than his nearest rival, Enzo Fernandez, and 168 more than Kai Havertz, who was third on the list of Chelsea players with the most shots since Palmer's transfer.
Even then, their 11.1% and 11.3% conversion respectively, were still worse than their teammates, with Romelu Lukaku's 16.9% return, the best in the squad, coming as a result of taking just 77 total shots, almost 300 less than Palmer.
The worst possible decision...
An 83.5% pass completion rate across the three seasons that the player has been at the Bridge is acceptable, though oddly enough, it's quite low when compared with other major players in the Chelsea squad.
62 big chances created is at least 16 more than any other Chelsea player, however, and 77 through balls played is only bettered by Fernandez (98).
With the Argentine hinting after the PSG debacle that he might well be looking to pastures new after the World Cup, the Blues can't countenance allowing Palmer to leave in the same transfer window - particularly if he shines in the USA this summer.
When all is said and done, even if he's become slightly injury-prone and can sometimes appear to have a laissez-faire attitude on and off the pitch, it's clear that Cole Palmer remains Chelsea's most creative player.
BlueCo have made some wild decisions in their time at the helm of the club, but allowing their number 10 to leave would just top the lot.
