Chelsea have found their new Didier Drogba.
The Ivorian is a Chelsea legend, scoring 164 goals in 381 games across two spells at the club. He won 14 trophies, two Premier League Golden Boots and became one of the greatest strikers in the world under Jose Mourinho’s tutelage.
Drogba was the ultimate big game player. He scored 11 goals in eight different major cup finals, including the equaliser in the Blues’ famous 2012 Champions League triumph. The Ivorian also netted the winning penalty against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
When Drogba headed in the equaliser against in the 2012 Champions League final, commentary called him “the big man for the big occasion”. And there wasn’t a sentence more fitting.
Now, 10 years after the striker played his final game for the club, Chelsea finally have another player to step up for them in major finals. Another man to drag them to silverware.
A long wait ended
Chelsea have needed someone to lead them through finals for a while. Since Drogba left Chelsea for the second time in 2015, the Blues have been in 15 finals across all competitions. They’ve lost eight of those.
While that doesn’t sound too bad, let’s compare it to Drogba’s time at Chelsea. Again excluding the Community Shield, Chelsea won seven of their nine cup finals. The only exceptions were the 2008 Capital One Cup final and the 2008 Champions League final.
Five of Chelsea’s seven cup final wins from the past 15 appearances have come in the past five seasons. They include two Club World Cups, the Conference League and the Uefa Super Cup. All trophies that opposition fans will turn their nose up at. Since 2014-15, Chelsea have also lost four FA Cup finals and three League Cup finals. Not to mention the 2019-20 Uefa Super Cup.
The Blues’ main problem in the domestic cup finals was a lack of goalscorer. A player to drag them through. Fans look to missed chances in both cup finals against Liverpool in 2021-22, both of which ended goalless. In fact, Chelsea have failed to score in five of their past six domestic cup finals.
Enter Cole Palmer.
Ice Cole
In his last three finals for club and country, Cole Palmer has scored three goals, provided three assists and won two Player of the Match awards.
At Euro 2024, it took Palmer just three minutes to find the net after coming off the bench against Spain — equalising for England. In doing so, he became the first sub to score in a European Championship final since Sylvain Wiltord for France in 2000.
Unfortunately for England, they would still go on to lose the final to Mikel Oyarzabal’s late strike. But Palmer’s had more success with Chelsea in 2024-25.
Palmer took the Conference League final against Real Betis by the scruff of the net in the second half. The Englishman provided two assists in the second half to help Chelsea come from a goal down to eventually beat Real Betis 4-1.
Palmer created two chances in total, alongside two crosses and 21 passes in the final third — the latter being the joint-most among Chelsea players. He also had two shots himself, both of which hit the target, and completed more take-ons than any other Chelsea player (four).
The Englishman was the first player to assist twice in the final of a major European competition since Marcelo for Real Madrid in the 2017-18 Champions League final against Liverpool. He was deservedly named Man of the Match for the fine display. But Palmer wasn’t done there.
The Club World Cup final was where Palmer peaked. He had had a quiet start to the tournament, failing to score or assist in the first two group games. Palmer created just two chances across those two matches too. And he was an unused substitute in the final group match against Esperance Tunis, as Chelsea fancied their chances of sealing a spot in the last 16.
That was where Palmer turned up. In the knockout stages alone, Palmer created 10 chances and had 15 shots, while scoring three goals and provided two assists.
Three of those goal involvements came in the Club World Cup final against European champions Paris Saint-Germain. Palmer had single-handedly won his side the game — and the trophy — by half-time.
Palmer made history with his two goals, becoming the first Englishman to score twice in a Fifa Intercontinental Cup of Club World Cup final. They were excellent finishes too, beating Gianluigi Donnarumma with low strikes into the far corner. He also provided an assist for the third just before half-time.
As a result, Palmer was named both the Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament. Palmer had scored more goals against PSG than every other side combined in the 2025 Club World Cup. In doing so, he secured his spot as Chelsea’s new cup final king.