The transfer of Cole Palmer from Manchester City to Chelsea is one of the most unlogic events in the June 2023 transfer window. After being taken over by Arabs, the Citizens solely relied on buying players, either for the first team or for the Academy. And there he was, a kid born and bred in Manchester, finally a British product from the Academy with a clear potential, finally making it to the first team and suddenly he was gone. In previous seasons, he was clearly still young and he had the likes of Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez playing at his position, so it was normal that he didn’t get the playing time. But after Mahrez went to Saudi Arabia, all doors were open to him, and suddenly, he was sold to Chelsea.⚔️ Cole Palmer 🆚 Andreas Pereira🔥 Palmer higher rated🔐 Pereira making more key passes🤔 Which #CHEFUL attacking midfielder would you prefer to have in your team?— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) January 13, 2024 Finally, the player himself gave his testimony of the events and explained what happened in crucial conversation between him and coach Pep Guardiola.“Initially I didn’t want to leave. I said I would go on loan and play for a year so I was ready for first team football more because I didn’t play a lot of minutes last season. But then Pep said “you’re either staying or you’re getting sold” and, so yeah, I just got sold. I was a bit confused why they wouldn’t let me go on loan but then I said I wanted to go to Chelsea and I’m glad it’s turned out the way it has” explained Palmer to Daily Mail.Still waiting: Nkunku’s hip deals another painful blow to ChelseaIn November last year, the Spanish tactician gave his version of events.“I said to him “Riyad Mahrez is leaving, you are going to get a chance here”. ‘He said “No, I’m not going to play here, I want to leave” so I said “OK, leave!” revealed Guardiola at the time, which now looks like a quite simplified explanation.Cole Palmer has now been directly involved in 15 goals for Chelsea across all competitions so far this season:◎ 20 appearances (16 starts) ◉ 8 goals ◉ 7 assists His 7th goal involvement since the start of December. 👏#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/FVUBgQsrWh— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) January 6, 2024 The Blues massively profited from this mess up, since Cole turned out to be by far their best signing so far. On the pitch, things are great. Palmer scored eight goals and made seven assists in just 21 appearances already at Chelsea and has played more minutes of first-team football than he received at City. But the adjustment from Manchester life is not so easy as it looks like on the pitch.“It’s been difficult off the pitch. I don’t think everyone sees that. They think everything is fine because he is doing this on the pitch now but moving away from your family, out of Manchester where you’ve been your whole life is difficult. It’s little things like when I’m going home from training and not seeing my parents. If something has happened at football I can’t go and talk to my dad. See what he thinks. Obviously I can ring him but it’s not the same. Things like that, seeing friends and family. There’s been more phone contact since joining Chelsea. I thought coming here would do me good as well to grow up a bit though, living away from my parents. In a short period of time I think it’s helped me” admitted Cole honestly.ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 21Friday Burnley – Luton 1-1 (1-0)/Amdouni 36 – Morris 90+2/Saturday 15.30: (1.70) Chelsea (3.70) Fulham (5.10)20.30: (5.60) Newcastle (4.40) Man.City (1.60)Sunday 17.00: (2.85) Everton (3.40) Aston Villa (2.45)19.30: (2.30) Man.Utd. (3.70) Tottenham (3.15)***odds are subject to change***
