Liam Rosenior believes Cole Palmer will be at Chelsea for “years to come” despite speculation he could leave the club.
The playmaker has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United as it has been suggested he would like to return to the north west of England.
Rosenior, however, insists that Palmer is committed to the Blues and “fully invested” in the project.
Cole Palmer fully ‘committed’ to Chelsea amid Man Utd links
“I have to give Cole so much credit because he’s put himself up to play for this club maybe at times where other players wouldn’t,” he said at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Manchester City.
“A lot of people speak about Cole’s commitment to this club, how much he buys into what we’re doing.
“He’s fully invested in what we do in many ways and I’m really, really delighted with him as a player, him as a character, what he stands for, what he wants to achieve here and he’s going to be a huge part of things for me in years to come.”
Palmer’s form this season has dipped below his usual terrific standards, but Rosenior believes he is revitalised as a player ahead of the run-in.
“If Cole feels that, that’s great,” he said. “Cole, as I’ve said many times before, is a top player who’s gone through a really difficult period in terms of injury, in terms of the amount of games that he’s had.
“What I’m seeing in Cole now is a brightness, a freshness and hopefully he can maintain that between now and the end of the season.”
Asked how to get the best out of Palmer, Rosenior answered: “You give him confidence, you point out the things he’s doing well, you point out the things that are very, very positive in his game.
“In terms of chance creation, I’ve gone through the stats: the chances he’s created in our difficult times was very, very high. We just didn’t take the chances that he created. I’ve showed him that.
“You can over-analyse at times but that’s not what I want Cole to do.
“Cole’s an intuitive player. He needs to be free to express himself to the best of his ability.
“How we have tried to manage Cole before this period is…there were question marks about why he was coming off, why he wasn’t starting games.
“We wanted him fresh for this period and so far he looks really, really good for that.”
