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'Normal' Palmer in control from No 10
The Guardian
|June 20, 2025
Modest 23-year-old still likes PlayStation and has taken Hazard's old shirt as Chelsea prepare for Flamengo
Cole Palmer sees himself as a normal kid. Strangers watch him with something close to fascination, though. What's going on beneath the chilled exterior? The shrugging demeanour adds to the mystique. Kids copy the Chelsea attacker's "cold" celebration. Interviewers walk away amused but bemused after spending time with Palmer. What's the story with those answers? Why are they all so short and sweet?
The Philadelphian sun is beating down when Palmer mooches over for a quick chat at Subaru Park, where Chelsea are training before facing Flamengo in their second game at the Club World Cup today. So, Cole, can you tell us why you walked out wearing a mask when the team plane landed in the US last week? Are you ill? Enzo Maresca, your manager, thinks you were playing a trick on everyone.
"It wasn't a joke," Palmer says. "I just don't like the smelly planes. That's why I wear a mask. When I travel I don't like the smells, so that's why I wear them. Nothing else. Enzo doesn't know. I didn't tell him. But he didn't ask me, to be fair."
This story is from the June 20, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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