Ian Wright names player he'd have 'loved' Arsenal to sign ahead of Chelsea

Ian Wright has said he really wishes Mikel Arteta had signed Cole Palmer for Arsenal. The forward left Manchester City to join Chelsea last September.

Palmer cost £42.5 million, and since then, he's scored 12 goals and claimed nine assists in just 29 games. He is likely to play for Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley this afternoon.

And Wright, speaking on his podcast, Wrighty's House, has admitted he is a bit jealous of Chelsea. Asked if he wished his old club had made a move for the England international, he replied: «I wish we did.

»I don't want to say who I'd have had him in for, but I'd have loved to have had Cole Palmer. I heard someone saying something that he's like [Riyad] Mahrez, but he's not that player; he has so much more."

While Wright has likened the 21-year-old to Mahrez, who used to play with him at City, Pat Nevin thinks Palmer could be as good as Kevin De Bruyne one day. He said: «I've said that before and took a lot of stick for it.

»I even said it on national radio when he was still at Manchester City! I don't make hyperbolic statements, and I don't exaggerate, so it was a big statement.

«If you watch Palmer, you can see it now. He picks the right ball, and he's the one who creates everything. He's the one who makes Chelsea special.»

Before the final match, Liverpool's assistant manager, Pep Lijnders, praised Palmer as possibly the best discovery of the season. «I think one of the best signings this year in the Premier League is Palmer, taking him from a rival, a young player, and performing like that,» he said.

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