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Cole Palmer has named his father as the man that taught him all he knows about football today.

The 21-year-old Chelsea signing made this known while speaking in his column for The Players’ Tribune.

The piece was Palmer’s own way of appreciating his father and the influence he had on his playing career.

He said: “He used to sit me down on the bag of balls on the sidelines, wrapped in one of his rain jackets. I would just take it all in — the crunching tackles, the shouting, the arguing.

“Dad doesn’t play anymore since he done his knee, and I don’t really remember any specific games, but he’ll tell you how good he was! To listen to him you’d think he’d had a 20-year career in the Premier League!

“His big claim to fame was when his team made a cup final at Stalybridge. They went 2–0 down but came back to win 3–2 … and who scored the winner? Dad, of course. Not sure anything I achieve in my career — PL debut, scoring in the UCL, etc. — will ever top that moment for him!

“I don’t like admitting it to him, but Dad taught me everything about football growing up. He was Pep before I met Pep.”

Palmer’s grandfather is from the Carribean, but the player himself was born and raised in England.