Mauricio Pochettino has no doubts Cole Palmer will be able to handle the pressure of playing at Manchester City tomorrow for the first time since joining Chelsea last summer.

Palmer, who came through City’s academy, was bought by Chelsea for £40million (plus a potential £2.5 million in add-ons) on deadline day.

Palmer has been Chelsea’s best player this season with 12 goals and nine assists, including scoring against City during November’s 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge.

“He (Palmer) is very smart,” Pochettino said. “He is emotionally intelligent and he doesn’t care (about things like this).

“He is going to go there and play. He is going to play either good or not so good but it won’t be because of (feeling) the pressure).”

When asked if he has been surprised by the extent of the impact Palmer has made at Chelsea, he replied: “Yes. One person, a member of staff, said to me today ‘he is from Manchester but he looks like a Brazilian/Argentinian in the way he has had the capacity to adapt so quickly’.

“One of our strengths — Brazilian, Argentinian, South American people — is we come to Europe and survive. We adapt very quickly.

“Maybe some people from here (England), who go from Manchester to the south or the south to the north find it so difficult to adapt, maybe because of the weather…all is different and they suffer.

“But for him he adapted very quickly and that was the key, to the life here, to Cobham, to London and the club. That makes him show his talent.”