Jamie Carragher sends social media into meltdown with huge Cole Palmer claim as fans left divided

Jamie Carragher has made a major claim about Cole Palmer after Chelsea's 4-3 win over Tottenham - and it's seriously divided fans on social media.

Palmer scored two goals from the penalty spot and assisted Enzo Fernandez in a player of the match performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Chelsea move up to second with the win, which saw them come back from 2-0 down after just 10 minutes.

While Palmer's first spot kick was relatively routine, with the England star placing the ball in the bottom left corner, the second one was anything but.

He succeeded in pulling off an audacious Panenka penalty, with Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster having already committed to the dive as Palmer struck the ball.

Carragher was on commentary for the game but dropped in to the Sky Sports studio to analyse what he had seen - but his comments on Palmer have surprised many.

He said: "You fear when he's on the ball [as an opposition player].

"I loved him last season, and he's started this season really well. If you look at his almost 18 months at Chelsea, I don't think there's been a player in the Premier League that's performed better than him over these 18 months.

"And he hasn't been playing for the best team, though they look like one of the best teams in the league right now.

"He's probably on the same sort of level as what I saw Eden Hazard do, though over a longer period of time [for Hazard], four or five years.

"Right now, I think the way he's going, if he can take Chelsea to the title, he's going to go down as one of the greatest players for Chelsea if he keeps doing what he's doing."

"I don't think there's been a player in the Premier League that's performed better than him" @Carra23 on Cole Palmer 💫 pic.twitter.com/OBb765Hbbt

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 8, 2024

While fans agreed with his comments in relation to Chelsea, some took issue at Carragher's claim that Palmer has been the Premier League's best player in the past 18 months - claiming Mohamed Salah deserves the accolade instead.

One wrote: "Mo Salah is the best player in the world right now, Jamie. Anyone can see it."

A second said: "Mo Salah is that player!"

A third added: "That number 11 for Liverpool is quite good."

Others, though, argued that over an 18-month timespan, Palmer has been the best: "He said Palmer was the best player for the past 18 months, not this season, which is definitely true."

A second asked: "Why are Liverpool fans fuming with Carra here? Over the past 18 months he probably has been."

And a third stated: "The sample size being brought forward is August 2023 to today. He [Palmer] is 100% in conversations for best performing player in that timespan."