Chelsea’s Palmer keen to show Man City what they lost،
When will Manchester City regret allowing Cole Palmer to join Chelsea: now, in the future or never?
It's been 192 days since City appeared to have unearthed an academy gem, as Palmer came off the bench to equalize against Arsenal in August's Community Shield at Wembley. City then lost that game (on penalties) and Palmer himself as Chelsea exploited a disagreement between the teenager and manager Pep Guardiola over his immediate career path to secure a deal that could be worth up to 42 .5 million pounds sterling.
The story is simple: Palmer wanted to go on loan and play. Guardiola told Palmer he either had to stay or find a new club; Fearing a season on the bench, Palmer opted to leave. Suddenly a player born in Wythenshawe, south Manchester, who once had no particular desire to stray too far from home, found himself in London, far from family and friends, after swapping the treble winner against a Chelsea side in flux with a new manager and more than £1 billion spent on players in the previous three windows.
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Palmer returns to the Etihad for the first time this weekend, having exceeded all expectations over the past six months. Guardiola's team set out without him finding themselves in a position where successfully defending the treble becomes a tangible possibility. But Palmer has a chance on Saturday to derail that bid and make Guardiola realize that he has always misjudged his talent.
Palmer's move to Chelsea was a real sliding doors moment for everyone involved.
As part of the Blues' aggressive efforts to acquire the majority of Europe's best young talents, they have completed a deal for Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise. It seemed simple: Olise had a £35million release clause, which Chelsea activated around August 15, and with personal terms unlikely to be an issue, there was great confidence in the transfer. However, Palace were quick to insist a new contract was already in place with Olise which removed the £35million release clause. The new terms have never been confirmed, but sources suggest they have been replaced with a new clause worth between £50m and £60m, which will become active in a future transfer window.
Palace chairman Steve Parish posted a photo on social media of Olise signing his new four-year contract and suddenly Chelsea found themselves looking for alternatives.
Palmer was on the Blues' radar after playing a key role in England's triumph at the European Under-21 Championships earlier that summer, and he looked set for a bright future at the Etihad Stadium . But on August 17, Guardiola publicly admitted that the youngster could leave.
Palmer has made just seven starts in City's 2022-23 campaign and after his eye-catching appearance against Arsenal at Wembley, he then capped another fine performance with the equalizing goal against Sevilla in the Super Cup final. UEFA that they would win on penalties.
“The opinion I had was that he wanted to leave, but now I don't know what will happen,” the City manager said after that match. “I don't think a loan will happen. He will stay or go, but I think a loan won't happen.”
It has since emerged that Palmer preferred a loan. Reflecting on his move to Chelsea in a January interview with Sky Sports, Palmer said: “My thing was to never leave City. That wasn't my intention. [to leave]. I wanted to go on loan for a year, come back and be ready for the first team but he [Guardiola] I said I couldn't take out a loan. You either stay or you're sold. »
Guardiola's version of this conversation added a caveat that, with Riyad Mahrez leaving for Saudi Arabia, Palmer had been explicitly told he would be given more playing time. Palmer has genuine affection for City – he once played two games in the same day for them, first for the under-23s and then for the senior team – but he wasn't convinced there were enough opportunities ahead.
City hadn't anticipated his departure last summer, but Chelsea's offer was remarkable: £40 million up front for a player with great potential but little evidence, with just 41 senior appearances, who he would succeed at the highest level. The structure of the deal and Palmer's status as a homegrown talent meant the fee could be taken as pure profit and as an aid to City's financial fair play. Ahead of the move, City agreed a £55.5m deal to sign Belgian winger Jérémy Doku to ensure they are not left short in wide areas.
Palmer therefore joined Chelsea on 1 September, becoming the club's 13th summer signing, and agreed a seven-year contract with an option for an eighth season. Suddenly he found himself far from his parents in a new city, at a new club with a new manager trying to establish himself in a team built at unprecedented cost.
“I just wanted to get on the team, play and show what I could do,” Palmer said last month. “But to enter into the [Chelsea] team right away and took over, that surprised me.”
He is not the only one. Naturally left-footed and capable of playing out wide or through the middle, Palmer was a shining light during a difficult season at Stamford Bridge, operating with a freedom and composure largely unmatched by his teammates. The 21-year-old has scored 12 goals and nine assists in all competitions and became the 1,276th player to represent the England men's senior team in November in his substitute appearances against Malta at Wembley and in North Macedonia .
A closer look at his Premier League numbers further highlights Palmer's influence. He is sixth in the division for total goals and assists (16) behind Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (22), Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins (21), City's Erling Haaland (21), Son Heung-Min of Tottenham (18) and Bukayo Saka of Arsenal (17).
Palmer's 10 goals came on just 48 shots, the lowest figure in this top six by far; Son scored his 12 goals on 52 shots, but Haaland (16 of 67), Salah (14 of 65), Watkins 11 of 71) and Saka (10 of 68) are much higher. This is mainly because half of Palmer's league goals have come from penalties – only Salah (six) has scored more – but that in itself is a demonstration of the level of responsibility he needed when he decided to leave City or not. One of those five successful conversions came against City in November, scoring under maximum pressure in stoppage time at the climax of a nail-biting Premier League classic to secure a 4-4 draw against his former team.
Only Arsenal's Martin Ødegaard and Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes have attempted more through passes than Palmer this season (tied for 19th with Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and West Ham's Lucas Paquetá). And what about that precious playing time he coveted? Palmer has accumulated 1,506 minutes in the league this season. Compared to his former City teammates in wide positions – Jack Grealish (703), Phil Foden (1,863), Bernardo Silva (1,511) and Doku (975) – Mauricio Pochettino clearly trusts Palmer just as Guardiola trusts his key wingers.
The big difference, of course, is league position. City have absorbed Palmer's departure to stay on course for back-to-back trebles while Chelsea languish in 10th place, 20 points behind the leaders but with a chance of winning the first major domestic trophy of the season against Liverpool in the final of the EFL Cup. later this month. City may come to Palmer Street by thriving elsewhere, but then again they have become such a juggernaut under Guardiola that the departures of other seemingly important figures – think João Cancelo, Leroy Sané and Gabriel Jesus, to name just three – failed to derail them.
Meanwhile, Palmer and Chelsea would be insulted by any suggestion that he resigned collectively to take a step forward individually. Chelsea still believe their policy of bringing together top young talent on long-term contracts will leave them well placed to compete with the best in English football in the years to come. Palmer emerges as the best example of this process, evidence of Pochettino's continued ability to nurture precocious talent and mitigating criticism that Chelsea's transfer strategy was too scattered to succeed.
What they need, according to Pochettino, are positive experiences to grow together as a team. Finding a way to stop City's title charge this weekend would do the trick.
