Chelsea’s Cole Palmer is latest England star to give Southgate a Euro 2024 headache as competition for places hots up

COLE PALMER is the latest England hopeful to make an impression on Gareth Southgate and state his case to go to the Euros.

His audition featured a goal and assist in Monday night’s 3-2 win over Newcastle.

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Cole Palmer (right) celebrates his goal against Newcastle[/caption]

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The in-form Chelsea star scored one and made one on Monday night[/caption]

It follows on from calls for Ross Barkley, Conor Gallagher, Kobbie Mainoo, Tino Livramento, Ivan Toney and Jarrod Bowen to get a place in the 23-man squad off to Germany this summer.

Jack Butland, Raheem Sterling, Rico Lewis, Eberechi Eze and James Ward-Prowse are not out of the running yet, either.

Each week we are told a new player simply must be included.

But, for Southgate, it is not  a case of just getting a bigger plane. He cannot take them all.

Unlike the last two tournaments, where managers could pick  26-man squads following the pandemic, Euro 2024 will see that number  back to 23.

Added to the fact Southgate has a settled group of senior, tournament-hardened players  and fitting in talents like Palmer becomes quite the headache.

The ex-Manchester City man only made the squad in November following injuries to James Maddison and Jude Bellingham, making his debut against Malta.

But his performances for Chelsea, 11 Prem goals and eight assists across a fairly miserable Stamford Bridge season, cannot be ignored.

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While many of his new teammates are struggling to settle, midfielder Palmer walked out on the Premier League champions, swaggered into the spotlight in West London and has shone.

Palmer, 21, has proved a game changer as boss Mauricio Pochettino battles to steer the Blues on the right course.

And that bodes well for tournament football.

But does that mean that he  is a better option than Jack Grealish or Marcus Rashford for boss Southgate?

Palmer has certainly had a better individual season than both, but Southgate surely will not leave those two behind.

On form, Palmer is the pick, but Grealish and Rashford can both make a bigger impact on their day and have a wealth of tournament experience.

This summer would be Rashford’s fifth European Championship or World Cup appearance and Grealish’s third.

With England under pressure to deliver a trophy in what could be Southgate’s final flourish, he will want players he can trust.

Sterling’s England exile, having not been included in a squad since the World Cup in Qatar, certainly helps Palmer — but still it is a tight squeeze.

England’s next squad will be announced on Thursday at 2pm.

The Three Lions have an array of attacking talent, while Southgate’s habit of  taking every right-back playing in England also reduces the number of places available.

In the forward line there are already a number of dead certs to be in the squad.  Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane and, arguably, Ollie Watkins as the England captain’s understudy.

Does Palmer deserve to go to Germany ahead of someone like Maddison? Probably not.

Lay it out in the barest terms and what initially seems like an obvious case for Palmer, starts to diminish.

It would be fantastic to have a player of his quality there, though it is always a sign of strength if England can leave players like him at home.

For what it is worth, Palmer’s Chelsea team-mates believe he should be on the plane.

Blues centre-half Trevoh Chalobah said after the win over Newcastle: “Most definitely.

“He is up there producing every week, so why not?

“What a player he is. The confidence that he shows in every moment of the game, you can see he is so relaxed and he knows his ability. That is the kind of player we need.”