The perfect partnership?
It was a "joy" to watch Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer against West Ham.
That was the view of Match Of The Day 2 pundit Ashley Williams and one that you would be hard-pressed to find a Chelsea fans that disagreed with.
In another impressive display at home for the Blues, the two youngsters shone in the 5-0 win over their London rivals.
One day before his 22nd birthday, Palmer racked up his 21st Premier League goal of the season, while Madueke added an assist and a goal to his growing recent tally - scoring three times and creating twice in the past six league games.
"They played with such freedom and such confidence and they had one thing on their mind – to attack and to score," added Williams.
That desire to perform in the top half of the pitch showed in the numbers, with both players ranking in the top two for attacking stats amongst team-mates in the game.
Manchester City academy graduate Palmer may have been stand-out from the get-go, but former PSV winger Madueke has taken more time to find his feet at Stamford Bridge since his move in January 2023.
While injuries may have initially forced Mauricio Pochettino's hand in how much game time the 22-year-old has had in the latter part of this campaign, it looks to have brought to life a blossoming partnership.
There were questions around whether the pair, who both prefer operating on the right-hand side, could fit into the starting XI together but those questions are lessening as they grow into roles behind and to the right of forward Nicolas Jackson.
One of the key reasons Pochettino was brought into Stamford Bridge was his track record of working with and improving young players - something much needed after Chelsea's erratic transfer policy of snapping up young talent since Todd Boehly's takeover.
"Poch's influence on young players, he has clearly been working with him [Madueke]," pundit Danny Murphy said on BBC MOTD2. "He doesn't need to work with Cole Palmer because he turned up a genius. He could go on to great things, he makes football look easy and he's a joy to watch. But Madueke's improvement has been a real plus for Chelsea and I think Poch deserves credit for that."
With the improvements seen in Madueke, among others, of late and the growing relationships on the pitch, Blues fans could finally be beginning to see the green shoots of this new Chelsea project.
