Cole Palmer's Goal Celebration Habit Has Some Soccer Fans a Little Curious About Its Origin

Some fans refer to the soccer player as "Cold Palmer."

Chrissy Bobic - Author
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Published July 14 2025, 11:59 a.m. ET

Apparently, in soccer, there is no rule against excessive celebration when you score a goal. At least, that seems to be the case for Chelsea Football Club star Cole Palmer. He is often seen rubbing his arms on the field, and some of his newer fans are a little confused about why. He has been doing it for a while, and the move has to do with his performance in different games.

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Although Cole was seen rubbing his arms in an apparent cold embrace to himself on the field after Chelsea won the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, it wasn't the first time he was seen doing that in a game. Per TalkSport, Cole did the same move for the first time in 2023 when he celebrated a win against the Luton Town Football Club. Since then, it has been his "thing."

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Why does Cole Palmer rub his arms?

Most fans know that Cole rubs his arms when his team wins or he scores a particularly important goal. And, TalkSport reported, Cole has commented on why he chose this move and where he drew inspiration from for it. According to the outlet, Cole said that his former Manchester City Academy teammate Morgan Rogers used to pull out that move. Cole originally did it as a tribute to him.

"My boy Morgs did one for Middlesbrough, so I told him I'd do it too if I scored," Cole said, per TalkSport. However, since Cole sort of took over the move of rubbing his arms on the field, he made it his own. He added, when speaking to TalkSport, "Everyone knows it's my celebration. He might have done it, but everybody knows [it's] my celebration."

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The gesture even garnered Cole the nickname of "Cold Palmer," which fans have used across social media. There are even fan accounts on X that use the name and share videos of Cole's greatest moments in various games. Cole's moves are sometimes even referred to as "cold" now.

After the 2025 World Cup, Pulse Sports Nigeria shared a clip from the game on X and wrote, "Cole. Palmer. Take a bow. Cuts in from the right, sits Vitinha down with a filthy dummy, and drills it into the bottom corner. Ice cold."

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Cole Palmer's salary is pretty impressive for the soccer star.

Cole might not be the highest-paid player for Chelsea Football Club, per Goal.com, but he does pretty well for himself, especially as a star player. According to Spotrac, Cole makes $6,760,000 annually as a soccer player. He signed a nine-year contract in 2024, which all but guarantees Cole a place with the team until at least 2033.

Prior to playing for Chelsea, Cole played for Manchester City U21 and Manchester City. It's possible that Cole's career will end with Chelsea if he remains with the team for the duration of his contract. According to Jobs in Football, the average age of retirement is around 33 or 34. Cole was 23 at the time of his 2025 World Cup win, though, so he might even have a few more years in him after his contract.

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