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Chelsea's Cole Palmer picked Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe over Vinicius Junior as the world's best player. The 22-year-old recently won the PFA Young Player of the Year after enjoying a fantastic 2023-24 season with the Blues. The Englishman scored 27 goals and provided 15 assists in 48 appearances across competitions for the Blues.
In an interview during the award ceremony, Cole Palmer was asked to choose the best player in the world.
“Best player in the world? Either Vini or Mbappé. If I had to pick one? Mbappé,” he answered [via GOAL].
Kylian Mbappe was officially unveiled as a Real Madrid player on July 16 at the Santiago Bernabeu. After much speculation, the Frenchman signed for Los Blancos on a free transfer after spending seven seasons at Paris Saint-Germain. At PSG, Mbappe made 308 appearances, scoring 256 goals and providing 108 assists.
Meanwhile, Vinicius Junior signed for Los Blancos in the summer of 2018 and has been one of the talismanic figures for the club. Last season, the Brazilian recorded 24 goals and 11 assists across all competitions for Real Madrid and spearheaded their Champions League and La Liga triumphs.
Rio Ferdinand chooses between Chelsea's Cole Palmer and Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham
Manchester United veteran Rio Ferdinand showered praise on Cole Palmer but named Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham as the better player of the two.
Both players were key for their respective clubs last season, but Jude Bellingham achieved more collective trophies with Real Madrid - La Liga, UEFA Champions League, and the Spanish Super Cup. Meanwhile, the Blues struggled last season and finished the Premier League at number 6.
Comparing the two in his podcast, Rio Ferdinand commented:
"I think it's under 21 years old, he's got the most goal involvements over Jude Bellingham in Europe. It's a fact, he's doing it, he's doing it."
He continued:
"I'm not saying he's better than Jude. He's nowhere near as good as Jude in my eyes. For every one goal that Jude scores, most other clubs it's probably three or four goals it counts as, you know what I mean? Because its Bernabeu, it's at the Bernabeu, it's at Real, it's different."
Chelsea's former manager Mauricio Pochettino played Cole Palmer in more attacking positions in the 2023-24 season. This resulted in him scoring 22 goals in the Premier League, second only to Manchester City's Erling Haaland (27).
Jude Bellingham has done justice to his reported €103 million transfer fee and has been one of the most clutch players for Los Blancos in his first season. His contributions both in the attack and defense have helped the La Liga giants win some crucial matches in La Liga and claim the title by a 10-point difference over second-placed Barcelona.
The Real Madrid midfielder notched up 23 goals and 13 assists in 42 games for Los Blancos in the 2023-24 season.
