A smile creeps onto Cole Palmer’s face when he’s asked the question. ‘How happy are you to see Morgan Rogers join Chelsea?’.
You see, Palmer and Rogers go back a long way. They came through together at Manchester City, have shared a pitch with England and now, for this season and onwards, they will be team-mates at Chelsea.
While excited to see his close friend join the Blues, Palmer has highlighted the strengths the former Aston Villa man can bring and even revealed the role he had in persuading Rogers to join him at Stamford Bridge.
‘Everyone knows how good he is, and obviously he's one of my best friends, so I'm very happy about him coming here.
‘We always speak and when I heard Chelsea were trying to sign him, I was texting him even more persuading him to come. He was probably sick of me by that point! I’m glad here’s here now and I’m looking forward to sharing the pitch with him.
‘He told me straightaway that he was coming, but we kept it to ourselves. It was a difficult secret to keep before it was announced!
‘I think we're different players who can both offer a lot to the team. He's more physical than me, on and off the ball, and he likes to drive forward more whereas I think I like to play more passes.
‘I think we can play well together, and we obviously did that when we were young anyway.’
There will be many people excited to see where Alonso looks to utilise both players, with Palmer confirming that he chatted to the Spaniard once he was confirmed as our new manager.
‘I spoke to Xabi before he arrived, he messaged me when I didn’t make the World Cup squad,’ Cole stated. ‘It was nice to hear from him.
‘Working under him so far has been really good. Him and his staff have been great, and we’re looking forward to working with him.
‘He says he sees me as a No.10, playing in the pockets. I feel good now, I’ve had seven weeks to get myself ready for the season and I’m good to go.’
Palmer will hope for more match action tomorrow, when we face Tottenham at the Accor Stadium – the venue of our 6-4 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers.
The forward says that he feels ‘fresh’ for the season ahead, having enjoyed a longer period on holiday after not being involved at the World Cup, while also highlighting how much he’s enjoyed his time in Sydney.
‘It’s been nice,’ Cole said of his time in Australia so far. ‘I didn't really know what to expect because I've never been here, but to see the stadium the other day, it showed me how good it is here.
‘We’re really excited for tomorrow’s game, especially as it’s sold out, and games against Tottenham are always good to play in.
‘It’s a pre-season game but it’s always good when we face Tottenham. The rivalry is there but it’s important we get ourselves ready for the season first and foremost. This is what pre-season is for.
‘I’m looking forward to the season. My summer was great, I had around seven weeks off and I’ve never really had that before. We had a family holiday, and I feel refreshed for the season ahead.’