One of the more surprising deals of the summer transfer window was the one which took Cole Palmer from Man City to Chelsea.
Though the 21-year-old had yet to break through at the Etihad Stadium, it’s believed that Pep Guardiola was a big admirer of what the England U21 star had to offer.
With so many world class stars ahead of him in the pecking order, however, the player himself may have felt that in order to get regular match time he would need to move elsewhere.
In the end, City didn’t really have much of an option but to let the player spread his wings at Stamford Bridge.
Official, exclusive story confirmed. Cole Palmer joins Chelsea on £40m deal plus add-ons from Manchester City ??
Contract until 2030 plus option.
“I’ve joined Chelsea because the project here sounds good and because of the platform I will have to try to showcase my talents”. pic.twitter.com/djV26Zvntc
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 1, 2023
‘With Cole Palmer, Chelsea really insisted, were pushing for two days and the player was also keen on the move,’ transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano, wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside Substack.
‘So for City the best thing to do was to accept and make the most amount of money possible.’
On the face of it, the transfer is one to excite all Chelsea fans, and is in line with Mauricio Pochettino’s usual modus operandi of having a young, vibrant squad that is peppered with experience.
From plumbing the depths last season under Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard, Blues supporters and all those connected with the club have something to look forward to again.
For the third window in a row there’s been nothing but drama down at Stamford Bridge, but after ridding the club of a whole XIs worth of players and bringing in suitable replacements, things should settle down for Todd Boehly from here on in.