Chelsea beat both West Ham United and Brighton to the transfer of Cole Palmer from Manchester City this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano in the latest edition of his exclusive Daily Briefing column.
Palmer has shone since his move from Man City, and it looks like the Blues did well to see off competition for the young Englishman’s signature, with Romano also stating his belief that the 21-year-old could have been good enough to stay at the Etihad Stadium.
Still, there was so much competition for a place in the City squad, it’s not too surprising that Palmer ended up leaving, and Chelsea are now reaping the benefits.
Mauricio Pochettino has an exciting young squad at his disposal, so Palmer also looks like he made a good career move, as he’ll surely continue to get the chance to play regularly and develop his game at Stamford Bridge.
Discussing the Palmer deal, Romano said: “I can now mention something behind the scenes from the summer, when many wingers were being linked with Chelsea. Their priority target was Cole Palmer, but also in their list was Nico Williams of Athletic Bilbao. Chelsea scouted him for a long time before deciding to go for Palmer as their priority.”
He added: “Anyway, I also think it’s important to give credit to Chelsea for the signing of Cole Palmer, because he’s been fantastic. West Ham and Brighton also wanted Palmer this summer, but Chelsea were ready to pay a big amount of money to Man City to make it happen, and it made the difference.
“For me, Palmer was also absolutely ready to play at Manchester City’s level too, but City have so many top players and so it’s understandable that they decided to sell when the right offer came in.”