Chelsea should laugh at Liverpool if Arne Slot follows through with '£85m bid' - opinion

Chelsea could receive a surprise bid from one of their Premier League rivals for one of their best players, according to a fresh report. It has been a frustrating few weeks for the Blues, but they did pick up a big win over Fulham last time out to boost their Champions League hopes.

They are currently in sixth place and two points behind Newcastle United, needing to finish in the top five to secure Champions League football. The Blues are going to need a very good run of form to secure Champions League qualification, needing to beat four other teams to one of the three positions available.

To achieve that, they are going to need their forwards to start scoring with Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer both in the midst of goal droughts spanning double-figure games.

Both players were in superb form earlier in the season, but goals have dried up for them. Palmer is 16 games without scoring having netted 14 in his first 23 games of the season, and Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca believes the England international has a mental issue that is preventing him from scoring.

"For sure it's a mental thing; it's not tactical or technical," Maresca said in his latest press conference. "Cole is still the player who scored 14 goals in 20 games [sic]. The style is the same, the manager is the same, the club is the same. Nothing has changed around Cole. It's just mentally in this moment.

"You can see he's a little bit worried because he wants to help the team. You can see he's struggling a bit on that. But he showed how happy he was after Fulham. It's just a matter [of whether] we can win games. For sure he's going to score goals. If you go back game-by-game, he had at least every game one or two chances, so it's not about how the team is playing."

Talk of transfer interest

As Palmer’s struggle for goals goes on, teamTALK have reported that soon to be Premier League champions Liverpool see an opportunity to tempt Chelsea into selling the England international. It’s reported the Reds are considering an £85million bid to see if Chelsea will cash in on the forward.

Interestingly, TalkSPORT pundit Ally McCoist has recently addressed the idea of Palmer moving on, Saying: “Cole Palmer’s form has dipped a little bit. Will his long-term future be at Chelsea? I would think yes. Has he got the ability to move to another club with the same stature and hopes as Chelsea to continue to win things? Absolutely.”

McCoist is right. Palmer is still only 22 years of age, and elite consistency comes to very few players in that age range, with almost every player needing to develop further to reach a position where they can remain consistent even when their team is not firing.

Far more senior players have hit tricky runs of form, and there is a bigger picture, because it’s no secret that Chelsea have struggled as a collective during Palmer’s drought. Patience is required, and Chelsea should laugh at any offer for Palmer at this stage. They have a gem, and the first half of this season was an obvious reminder, with Palmer scoring all sorts of goals during that incredible run. Football form is rarely linear, and especially for young players.

Palmer will come good again, without doubt, and Chelsea have to make sure that happens at Stamford Bridge, as they almost certainly will.

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