Cole Palmer has captured the American imagination and 1.5 billion people could help him catch Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham.

When Todd Boehly led the seismic purchase of Chelsea Football Club in 2022, the ambition was clear.

Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital saw Chelsea as a reflection of another club they had overseen, the LA Dodgers.

They immediately set to work with the goal of turning Chelsea into the football equivalent of the Dodgers. For the baseball team it was players like Mookie Betts and more recently Shoehi Ohtani who were drafted to not only give them the best chance to win, but also to ensure that no one else could claim the game's biggest stars.

The glitz and glamor of the city of Los Angeles is represented in the Dodgers and, as you cross the pond to another of the world's epic cities in London, particularly the affluent area of ​​west London where Chelsea's Stamford Bridge is located, the objective was identical.

Grow the club by winning, but grow the club equally by buying shares of players who stand out, names who stand out. That ideal has led to a billion-dollar spending spree, and while the Dodgers' spending has produced significant success (most recently with the 2024 World Series), Chelsea's progress has been much murkier.

Among the more than 30 players recruited to west London since Boehly arrived in town, several of them were star names such as Raheem Sterling and an admittedly aging Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Meanwhile, they splashed out over £200m to bring in Enzo Fernandez shortly after his World Cup heroics in Qatar and then Moisés Caicedo to further bolster the midfield.

Joao Félix arrived for the second time this summer, while Christopher Nkunku was supposed to become one of the most dangerous attackers in the world. However, most of the big-money additions have disappointed. Sterling now plays for his rivals Arsenal – Chelsea agree to pay a significant portion of his salary just to get rid of him, while Enzo has started just six times in the Premier League this season, including none of his team's last four games.

Among the litany of mediocrity, a star has begun to shine among the brightest in the entire Premier League. Ten different signings led by Boehly cost more than him, but no one has helped rescue the Clearlake project like Cole Palmer.

He's a somewhat untraditional superstar, but the numbers speak for themselves. 45 goals and assists combined in 44 Premier League games tell the story. Palmer has gone from a promising youngster to entering superstar territory. No one will be happier than Boehly and his group of fellow owners.

So has his shining star come to America? The answer is yes, but it is much more complicated than that.

An element of Palmer's rising star comes from his signature 'Cold Palmer' celebration, an image that is no doubt repeated during school lunch breaks across the UK.

In the growing world of social media, an iconic, repeatable image is essential and Cole Palmer has developed one early in his career. That is the image that has transcended club loyalty in England and it is the image that has helped him rise not only in his home country but also across the pond.

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Perhaps no single moment summed up Palmer's growing influence better than the bottom of the third inning of the New York Yankees' ALDS Game 1 against the Kansas City Royals. With the Yankees trailing 1-0, shortstop Gleyber Torres launched a two-run home run. As he rounded the bases, Torres looked toward his team's dugout and crossed his arms in imitation of Palmer's now-iconic celebration.

Some on social media thought the celebration was a tribute to NBA star Trae Young who has been making a similar sign for even longer than Palmer, but Torres later confirmed on her Instagram that it was Palmer she was matching up with. Considering Young's stature as a three-time All-Star, it says a lot about Palmer's influence that he has retained ownership of his celebration, even in a country that idolizes basketball over football.

So can Palmer reach the heights of someone like David Beckham – which practically topped the American soccer scene – or Christian Pulisic Who is considered America's prodigal son? The early signs are promising and if his growth in the UK is anything to go by then he clearly has the potential to be a leader in the next wave of football talent.

But perhaps Palmer has a ceiling from an international perspective. There is no limit in terms of your production on the field. But in terms of his superstar potential. Numerous TikToks have gone viral, showing Palmer talking about his life outside of football with quotable moments, including his love of “chippy chips.”

Part of Palmer's appeal in England is that he comes across as a completely normal person. That doesn't mean he sounds negative, it just means he doesn't come across with the superstar aura of someone like Beckham or christian ronaldo. And if anything, that helped him in his home country. He's completely relatable to Palmer because you could easily imagine running into him at your local chip shop.

But that relationship disappears a bit when you look at the international level. Chip shops and French fries don't exist in America, where more traditional superstars have flourished in a sports culture that prizes glamor and elegance.

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Perhaps, however, no one offers a better example of the success Palmer can have in the American market than another of Boehly's superstars, Shohei Ohtani. The Japanese sensation is on its way to entering the Major Leagues Hall of Fame but his personality is marked by modesty and commitment to normality. He's far from the traditional superstar of American sports, but that makes the comparison to Palmer surprisingly accurate.

Of course, the big hurdle in a comparison like that is that Palmer plays football in Europe and that's likely to be the case for the next decade or more. Meanwhile, Ohtani plies his trade in America, making him an everyday reality rather than a somewhat distant star.

The reality is that outside Lionel Messi and Ronaldo, no one has really managed to break the mold and become a household name beyond soccer circles without actually playing in the US.

For Palmer to reach the heights of those two multiple Ballon d'Or winners, he will either have to make a concerted effort to pursue the American market (which seems incredibly unlikely considering his personality) or he will have to join the MLS, a possibility but not anytime soon. term.

However, there is a more viable path. Soccer has grown at a rapid pace in the United States over the past decade and that growth should peak in 2026 with the World Cup in North America.

FIFA says 1.5 billion people watched the 2022 World Cup and each edition is a chance for stars to be born and this one should provide a unique opportunity for players, intentionally or not, to showcase themselves to a broader American audience.

If he continues at his current pace, Palmer will be England's leader within two years. It's not a guarantee, but it could be enough to solidify your status within the United States.

Palmer is an unusual and non-traditional superstar. That may have helped his stock at home, but abroad it makes him a little less interesting and perhaps a little less marketable.