Arjen Robben is a legend amongst football fans and a former Man City star has now been compared to the Dutch winger.
The 41-year-old had a legendary career in the sport, playing for clubs such as Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Real Madrid, winning the league in all three countries, while also picking up medals in the Champions League, FA Cup, EFL Cup and the Supercopa de España.
Robben had a very noticeable style with all his opponents wary of his left foot, which he used to cut inside before whipping balls in the top corner of his opponents’ goal, a trick nobody seemed to be able to stop.
Claude Makelele is a man who knows the former winger well having played with Robben for years at Chelsea and the Frenchman has now found a player in the Premier League who reminds him of the Dutch legend.
Cole Palmer reminds Claude Makelele of Arjen Robben
Ian Wright believes Cole Palmer made the correct decision to join Chelsea from Man City in 2023 and discussions such as this around the Englishman have been common since the 23-year-old left Manchester with Pep Guardiola often told he made a mistake letting the Blues star go.
Palmer never wanted to leave Man City, but the Chelsea star was not guaranteed minutes at the Etihad Stadium, hence why he made the decision to go elsewhere.
The 23-year-old has kicked on massively ever since and former Blues star Makelele believes the winger reminds him of Robben when he was at Stamford Bridge.
“He can do better, his attacking is a bit selfish, that is normal, but he needs to learn this with the national team with Thomas Tuchel, he will learn this,” Makelele said about Palmer on talkSPORT’s The Lineup.
“He can be a leader, he’s still, he reminds me of Robben, he changed the game every 10 minutes, he’s unbelievable, he has this quality.”
There are still many levels that Palmer can tap into when it comes to his development, as the last few months have not been good for the 23-year-old, although Jamie Carragher still believes the Chelsea star has been better than Erling Haaland this season.
There are similarities between the England international and Robben, but it remains to be seen if the Chelsea talent can reach the heights the legendary winger soared to.
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How Cole Palmer compares to Arjen Robben
Both Robben and Palmer are left-footed wingers who also like to operate inside. The duo are also great at finding space on the pitch, a trait the Chelsea star showcased on Sunday as he starred in the Blues’ win over Liverpool.
It is easy to see why Makelele has compared the duo as they are also similar in the way they dribble with the ball and once they get up to speed, it is hard to get it back off of the wingers.
| Player | Games | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
| Cole Palmer (23/24) | 48 | 27 | 15 | 3734 |
| Arjen Robben (12/13) | 31 | 13 | 13 | 2211 |
At the time, Man City made the decision on Palmer they thought was best as and it proved correct last season as Phil Foden thrived at the Etihad, while Guardiola’s men won the Premier League.
It remains to be seen just how high Palmer can go in the sport and at the very least, Man City can be proud of producing another player who has made a lot of noise at the top of the English game.
