Jason Cundy is confident Chelsea have signed a major upgrade on Kai Havertz in the form of Cole Palmer.
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The Blues gleefully accepted Arsenal’s £65million bid for the Germany international in the summer after he had shown on glimpses of his potential over the course of three turbulent years at Stamford Bridge.
Havertz has made a low key start to his Arsenal career and is yet to adapt to the midfield role he has been assigned by his new manager Mikel Arteta who identified him as the ideal replacement for Granit Xhaka.
Chelsea, meanwhile, invested a portion of the fee they received for Havertz on England Under-21 international Palmer, who was surprisingly deemed surplus to requirements by Pep Guardiola.
The elegant midfielder opened his goalscoring account for his new club with a well-taken penalty against Burnley in Saturday’s thumping 4-1 victory and former Chelsea defender Cundy now expects Palmer to from strength to strength.
Asked by fellow talkSPORT presenter if Palmer was an upgrade on Havertz, Cundy replied: ‘Completely!
‘When you look at what Cole Palmer is bringing, he’s turning into the player we hoped Havertz would be.
‘He’s playing in a slightly different position, but he’s the player we hoped Havertz would turn into. At the moment he looks a class act.’
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino, meanwhile, was thrilled with Palmer’s contribution against the Clarets and admitted his progress had represented a major surprise.
‘He is a very talented player and he has the quality and he surprised me when I arrived because,’ said Pochettino.
‘It was the day before the transfer window closed. the way the he reads the situations and what the team needs in every situation, he can be the player who can link with his team-mates.
‘He is still very very young but with great personality and he has the talent and the quality which we saw today.’
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