Cole Palmer is talking his ‘cold’ celebration and whether he will allow his best friend in football and new team-mate, Morgan Rogers, to continue to use it after scoring at Chelsea.

It is technically his, after all, as per the register for the Intellectual Property Office.

‘I’ve trademarked it so if he tries to do anything, he’ll have the bailiffs at his door,’ Palmer tells us, prompting a fair few laughs from the journalists interviewing him in Sydney, Australia.

It is a classic Palmer line, delivered nonchalantly as we sit down with this 24-year-old at the training ground of local side Sydney FC, and he continues: ‘Nah, we’ll do it together, I think.

‘We’ve never actually spoke about it. He does it. I do it. I always speak to him but when I heard Chelsea were trying to sign him, I was texting him even more.

‘He was probably sick of me but at least he’s here now! Morgs told me straightaway when he was coming. It didn’t get leaked. Nobody knew. Just me and him and the higher people at the club.

Cole Palmer says he will share his ‘cold’ celebration with new team-mate Morgan Rogers

The Chelsea star is glad to have his boyhood friend alongside him going into the new season 

‘So it was a difficult secret to keep, but I kept it! Everyone knows how good he is. Obviously he’s one of my best friends so I’m very happy about it.

‘We’re two different players. He’s more physical than me, on and off the ball. He likes to drive with it. I like to play passes. I think we can play well together, and we played together when we were young (in the academy of Manchester City).’

Palmer is speaking for the first time since Rogers signed from Aston Villa for £117million – he describes it as a ‘next-level’ buy by Chelsea – and since he missed out on making Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the summer’s World Cup. Without him, his country reached the semi-finals, where they were beaten by Argentina.

‘If someone told you that you’re essentially not good enough to get in the squad, then you’re going to think, like, alright, whatever then, try to go that extra bit harder,’ Palmer says when asked whether he is carrying some extra motivation into the next season.

‘I watched some of it (the World Cup). Obviously I was away and the times were a bit mad in America. It was a bit difficult. But I did watch.’

Did he manage to stay up to watch England v Mexico in the round of 16? ‘Yeah,’ he says of that 2am kick-off in the UK. ‘But then I fell asleep at half-time.’

A summer break was not the worst news for Chelsea, selfishly. It allowed Palmer a chance to rest, recover, and reset after having not had any off-season for a few years. In 2025, he had the Club World Cup. In 2024, he had the Euros. In 2023, he was at the Under 21 Euros.

Is he itching to return to the England fold after Tuchel’s snub, however?

He had seven weeks off and reveals that he fell asleep at half-time of England vs Mexico 

Chelsea are on tour in Australia and face Tottenham in Sydney on Saturday 

‘I’m not really thinking about that now, to be honest,’ Palmer adds. ‘I’m just looking forward to the season with Chelsea, and to be honest, I’m not too bothered about that.

‘My summer was great. I had like seven weeks off or summit. Which I’ve never really had. It was good. I went on holiday with my family and that. I feel fresh.

‘It was strange. I didn’t know where to go. I went on holiday and was thinking, “Where do I go next?” Checking when I was back in. To be fair, I got bored after like six weeks. I was sat in Marbella thinking, “I want to go back in”, and I never thought I’d think that!’

Palmer’s new manager at Chelsea, Xabi Alonso, spoke to him during his seven weeks of downtime in the summer. ‘When I got told I wasn’t going to the World Cup, I think he knew, so he messaged me,’ Palmer says. ‘I can’t remember what he said. I think he said don’t worry about it or whatever. Normal stuff. It was nice. Him and his staff have been good, a breath of fresh air with his ideas.’

Palmer’s 2025-26 campaign, in which Chelsea finished 10th in the Premier League to miss out on any form of European football, was disrupted by a groin injury.

He is not used to being sidelined or unable to freely act like his ‘cold’ self, and that was hard.

‘I didn’t really know how to deal with it,’ Palmer explains. ‘The first few months, with me being injured, I just wanted to go out and play. Which I probably shouldn’t have done.

‘Obviously I couldn’t play how I wanted to play. It was a bad season personally with injuries and stuff but I feel good now. The seven weeks obviously helped. I’m ready to go again.’

Palmer also reveals for the first time how he considered turning to surgery at the time, as he sought expert advice in Scandinavia, saying: ‘Yeah, I went to Sweden or Denmark, one of those countries, to see a doctor. We did speak about it. But I didn’t end up getting it.’

Now that he feels fit again, Alonso has told him what he wants from him. ‘We spoke,’ Palmer says. ‘He sees me in the No 10, in the pockets, close to the striker, so we’ll see. When you sign good players, obviously your team is going to be better. It should be a good season.’