‘No doubt’ 12-cap England star has booked place in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad

Cole Palmer will be part of the England squad for the World Cup this summer, but he isn’t guaranteed to start.

That’s the view of talkSPORT’s Tony Cascarino after the Chelsea star had his best performance of the season against Wolves on Saturday.

AFP

Palmer scored a hat-trick in the first half of their 3-1 away win, which was his fourth treble for the Blues since signing in 2023.

He made no mistake from the penalty spot for his first two goals but saved the best for last with a powerful finish into the top corner.

The 23-year-old has battled with injury issues since the summer and made just his 17th appearance this season at Molineux.

However, Palmer was back on form and did enough to spark debate about his chances of playing for England at the World Cup.

Before kick-off, ex-Chelsea defender Scott Minto questioned if he would even be part of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the tournament.

But after Palmer’s latest heroics, fellow former Blue and talkSPORT colleague Cascarino is certain that he will be on the plane.

“Cole Palmer’s a talent, we all know that,” he said on the Weekend Sports Breakfast show.

“But he’s going to have to be absolutely at his best to start in the England team

“Because whoever the no. 10 will be, it’s going to come down to who Tuchel thinks is absolutely on his game coming into the World Cup.”

Cascarino added: “I don’t think there’s a doubt he’ll be on the plane.

Getty

Getty

“But he’s going to have to be playing better than Morgan Rogers, Jude Bellingham and whoever.

“Whether it’s Phil Foden, whether he makes it. He’s going to have to be as good… he’ll have to be the best of them to start for England.”

Palmer assesses World Cup chances

Speaking to talkSPORT after the match at Wolves, Palmer was asked for his thoughts on making the England squad in the summer.

And although he has unsurprisingly set his sights on being selected, the attacking midfielder wants a big role with the Three Lions.

“Obviously the target is to go to the World Cup,” he said.

“But, I don’t just want to go to the World Cup to be a part-player, I want to go to the World Cup and help my nation win the World Cup.”

Getty

Palmer has already earned 12 caps for the England national team, five of which came at Euro 2024.

However, because of injury issues, his last international appearance came in June.

He has spent the past few weeks returning to full fitness, and Chelsea will hope he can remain match-ready for the rest of the season.

They face Leeds United at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, which you can listen to live on talkRADIO.