SCORING sensation Cole Palmer is NOT getting a penny extra in goal bonuses.
Chelsea’s £42.5million summer signing has hit 20 Premier League goals this season and is level with former Manchester City team-mate Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot.
Yet playmaker Palmer, 21, was not bothered about insisting on a goal bonus when signing his £80,000-a-week, seven-year Blues deal last September.
And he will be kicking himself now as his goalscoring prowess saw him move into two exclusive Premier League clubs on Monday night.
The England international scored FOUR times against Everton in a comprehensive 6-0 win.
It was the 40th time a player has scored four times in a Premier League game.
It is also the first four-goal tally since Kevin de Bruyne managed the feat against Wolves in May 2022.
And that is not the only elite group Palmer joined on a special night at Stamford Bridge.
That is because his first-half hat-trick was a perfect one – a left-footed strike, a header and a right-footed lob to round things off.
It makes him the 36th player to bag a perfect hat-trick in the Premier League.
The most recent of those before Palmer’s was Haaland’s against Nottingham Forest in August 2022.
Yet despite a memorable evening for Palmer, it was still somewhat marred by an incident around his penalty.
Chelsea team-mates Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson both tried to take the spot kick off regular taker Palmer, before captain Conor Gallagher pushed them away.
And manager Mauricio Pochettino did not mince his words after the game as he addressed the situation.
He said: “It’s a shame. I told the players [in the dressing room] we can’t behave in this way. I told them this is the last time I will accept this type of behaviour.
“They’re all involved in this situation, next time they’re all out. This is not a joke.
“It’s impossible after a performance like this to see this type of behaviour.
“If we want to be a great team, fighting for big things, we need to change and think more in a collective way.
“I made clear to them, and now through the media, and I say to our fans and to everyone, Cole Palmer is the penalty taker. And it’s now his choice if he wants to give the ball to another player but not in this way.
“It’s very sad and I don’t want it to happen again. We behaved like kids.”
