LONDON – Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer has stood out from his teammates with his ability to deal with the pressures that come with playing for the London club, manager Mauricio Pochettino said, ahead of their FA Cup quarter-final clash with Leicester City on March 17.

Chelsea spent more than £400 million (S$681.8 million) to bring in 13 new players in 2023, including Palmer from Manchester City.

They have spent over £1 billion on new signings since co-owner Todd Boehly’s consortium bought the club in 2022.

Despite the outlay, Chelsea have struggled for consistency this season, which has prompted fans to turn on the manager and the club’s American owners.

Palmer, 21, has brought a few bright spots in Chelsea’s dismal season, with the England international scoring 13 goals and registering 11 assists for Chelsea in all competitions.

“It’s no surprise that he’s showing great personality and character. The way he adapted to the pressure to play for a big club like Chelsea makes him special,” Pochettino said on March 15.

“Sometimes, amazing players need time to deal with this. But he feels like he has been here 20 years. The quality is there.”

He added: “In the same time that you ask me about Palmer, not all the players have the same process to be settled at the club or to perform. We are in a process that the main group, the main young players, struggle a bit to deal with the pressure to play for Chelsea.”

Leicester manager Enzo Maresca had no doubt about Palmer’s quality, having worked with him when he was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at City.

“I think people that know Cole, they don’t see any change – in terms of the things that he’s doing now, he was always doing,” said Maresca, whose side top the Championship.

“The only difference is, unfortunately with City, he had many players like him, so he struggled a little bit.

“At Chelsea now, he’s found more space, so he’s showing himself, so Cole now is the player that everyone is watching...

“With Cole, it was quite clear, if you see him every day in the training session or you see him when he plays some minutes with City, no one at City had any doubts about Cole as a player.”

Pochettino, meanwhile, has urged Chelsea to book a return to Wembley in the FA Cup after revealing some of his nervous players were unable to sleep before their League Cup final defeat by Liverpool.

With the semi-finals of the competition held at Wembley, a win would give Chelsea the chance to make amends for their 1-0 loss to Liverpool in the League Cup showpiece in February.

The Blues have a largely youthful squad and Pochettino admitted their lack of big-game experience caused some of them to endure a restless night ahead of the final at the national stadium.

“Between you and me, some players didn’t sleep before the final,” he said.

“That is only through experience and, living these situations, you can be better. We learn through experience. With pain, you learn more.

“To go back to Wembley would be different. Another semi-final would be so good for us.

“To have the chance to reach the final and qualify for Europe through the FA Cup would be massive.”

Ending Chelsea’s six-year trophy drought would ease the pressure on Pochettino, who has endured calls for his sacking from frustrated Chelsea fans.

Asked what he regarded as success at Stamford Bridge, the Argentinian said: “I don’t know. It’s a strange year.

“Sometimes, the expectations are high, sometimes low. It depends on the mood in England. It’s like the weather, sometimes rainy and sometimes sunny.

“It’s not interesting to people what I think about what it means to be successful. If you ask me, I can explain the situation, the reality.

“We arrived, working. We are trying to be very supportive in all the things the club are building here.

“We are trying to add our knowledge to do something different.” REUTERS, AFP