Analysis: Palmer stars as Chelsea win Club World Cup
- Published
Cole Palmer is literally and figuratively Chelsea's poster boy, and he will take all the headlines from this final.
In New York's Times Square, there are giant billboards featuring the 23-year-old's image and he recreated the famous lunch-atop-a-skyscraper photo for Fifa with Ballon d'Or-tipped Dembele before kick-off.
His fame could reach another level now and he has become the face of a resurgent Chelsea, the Club World Cup following the Conference League triumph in May to show the investment made by the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital regime can lead to glory.
Every Chelsea player can walk off that pitch with pride. There were impressive performances from the exceptional Robert Sanchez and Malo Gusto, who have faced much criticism in recent months.
Winger Pedro Neto showed impressive work-rate to nullify one of the world's best full-backs in Achraf Hakimi and Joao Pedro scored his third goal in three games since joining the Blues during the tournament.
The Chelsea players have earned their holidays, with pre-season to be cut short.
Boss Enzo Maresca says his players will receive three weeks of holiday before they face Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan at Stamford Bridge in a mini-tournament on 8 and 10 August, with their Premier League opener against Crystal Palace on 17 August.