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Cole Palmer has said Xabi Alonso has allowed him greater freedom to express himself since taking charge at Chelsea.

Palmer has begun the season impressively, scoring once and setting up another in Chelsea’s 3-2 Premier League victory over Fulham on Monday night.

After standing out in his first season at Chelsea, the 24-year-old endured spells of inconsistent form and fitness during the previous campaign and was left out of England’s World Cup squad.

However, Palmer says he is relishing life under his new manager, who has handed him a freer attacking role.

“He [Alonso] just said I’d have more freedom to drift about the pitch,” Palmer told Sky Sports. “Just like you saw [against Fulham] with the goal I scored.

“Last season, I wouldn’t have even made that run because it’s not a ‘safe zone’. But he’s saying move across that zone, drop into play, come get on the ball, create and just do what you do.”

Chelsea ended last season in 10th place in the Premier League in a campaign that resulted in both Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior being sacked.

Former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid manager Alonso was appointed at the beginning of the summer and has been strongly backed in the transfer market, with Morgan Rogers arriving from Aston Villa for more than £100m to strengthen his attacking midfield options.

The combination of Joao Pedro, Palmer and Rogers has been nicknamed “JP Morgan” by some Chelsea supporters, but Palmer feels they can come up with something better.

“It’s a rubbish name,” he said with a laugh. “We need to come up with something better than that.

“I think we’ve got a different mix of qualities. Joao can do a bit of everything. Morgan’s more physical and I’m more technical, so I think we’ve got a good balance.”