‘Big slap in the face’: Leboeuf tells Palmer how to become ‘great player’

They are eager to see Palmer rediscover his spark under new boss Xabi Alonso. Quizzed on whether that will happen, or if the 14-cap forward was over-hyped too soon, ex-Blues defender Leboeuf said: “I’ve talked about the dictator of emergency when you have a young guy that Pep Guardiola didn't want to keep, goes to Chelsea and created a big surprise to everybody, at the point that I think Pep Guardiola regretted that move.

And coming from nowhere, that was crazy. “But you become a great football player when you show consistency. And it's not only one season, it's two, three, four, five. [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Lionel] Messi, it's 17 seasons, something like that. We are still waiting for [Kylian] Mbappe at the end of his career to make sure we can name him as a legend.

That's insane. But that's what it is. That's football. “As I always say, the first time selected with a national team, ‘oh wow, I'm an international player’. In France, you need 10 caps to be named international.

France

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