Man City manager Pep Guardiola confirms to bring back Chelsea superstar Cole Palmer
Cole Palmer is being linked with a record-breaking return to Man City
A stunning report has claimed Pep Guardiola has instructed Manchester City chiefs to re-sign Cole Palmer, and multiple sources have hinted at what Chelsea’s response will be.
Eyebrows were raised when Chelsea splashed out £42.5m to sign Palmer from Man City in 2023. However, the ultra-talented left-footer quickly made a mockery of that price tag when producing a season to remember at Stamford Bridge.
Palmer was not only named Chelsea’s Player of the Season for the 2023/.24 campaign, but also scooped the PFA Young Player of the Year and PFA Fans’ Player of the Year awards. Proving he’s not a one-season wonder, Palmer has begun the 2024/25 season in similarly spectacular fashion.
And according to a remarkable report from Spanish outlet Fichajes, Man City boss Pep Guardiola is ready to admit selling the playmaker was an error by breaking records to bring him back.
The report claims Guardiola has asked Man City chiefs to re-sign Palmer and a mammoth £125m (€150m / $163m) offer is cited as being required to seal a deal.
A transfer of that size would smash several transfer records at both clubs and would also make Palmer the most expensive signing in Premier League history . The current record holder is Moises Caicedo by way of his £115m switch from Brighton to Chelsea.
Losing Palmer would be a bitter pill to swallow for Chelsea, though the report suggested the Blues would resist selling Palmer – even for a record-busting fee like £125m.
Could Man City REALLY re-sign Cole Palmer?
The impetus for Man City intending to re-sign Palmer, per the report, is uncertainty regarding the long-term future of Kevin De Bruyne.
The Belgian remains a truly top tier performer when fit, though is beginning to spend more and more time on the sidelines through injury. What’s more, De Bruyne is now 33 years of age and in the final year of his contract.
Nonetheless, Chelsea fans should not be overly concerned about losing their talisman for a variety of reasons.
Firstly, the Spanish outlet bringing this news aren’t known for being particularly reliable when it comes to transfer news.
Secondly, Man City failed to insert any form of buy-back clause into Palmer’s agreement. As such, Chelsea can simply refuse to sell Palmer no matter how far Man City are willing to go with their bids.
Palmer – fresh off signing a new and improved contract in August – is tied down until 2033 too. Clearly, the Blues are in an extremely strong bargaining position with regards to Palmer.
Other factors to consider are City’s potential punishment for allegedly breaching Financial Fair Play. Any severe punishment, such as relegation from the Premier League, will completely kill off their ability to sign players who’ll cost as much as Palmer.
Finally, there is growing speculation Guardiola may seek a new challenge when his existing contract with Man City expires at season’s end. The idea of taking the England job is gaining traction.
Man City, Chelsea transfer latest
In other news, Spanish outlet AS have pointed to Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz as being a more credible contender to succeed De Bruyne at the Etihad.
Nonetheless, Wirtz won’t come cheaply, with the Germany ace valued in the same £125m bracket as Palmer.
Elsewhere, Give Me Sport have provided a definitive update on bizarre transfer claims regarding Reece James.
Prior reports stated the Chelsea captain’s camp had been shopping James to Benfica or Barcelona. The idea was to move the often-injured right-back to a warmer climate to help ease his fitness issues.
Per GMS, the story is wide of the mark on every level and James is going nowhere.
Palmer unsuited to playing for Pep?
Palmer played 41 times for City before they let him go in the summer of 2023. While it ought to be remembered that only 13 of those appearances were starts, he only managed to provide six goals and two assists in that time. Only once did he score in the Premier League.
By the end of his spell with City, Palmer was averaging a goal or assist every 185 minutes.
To emphasise just how emphatically he has developed at Chelsea, by the time of his 41st appearance for his new club, he had already amassed 23 goals (20 being in the Premier League) and 13 assists for them.
Ironically, one of those goals came against City themselves, the first time he faced his former club.
And by the end of the appearance in which he could say he had played in as many games for Chelsea as he had for City, Palmer’s average goal contribution rate was fractionally over one per 90 minutes, meaning he was effectively having an impact in almost every game he played and being twice as efficient as he had been able to be at City.
And by the end of the season, with Palmer adding another couple of goals to his tally in his 42nd and 44th Chelsea appearances, only City’s other-worldly striker Erling Haaland had outscored him in the Premier League.
That hierarchy is the same in the formative weeks of the new season, with Palmer the joint-second highest scorer behind Haaland after seven games.
In September, Palmer recorded his 41st goal contribution for Chelsea in his 50th appearance, meaning he had contributed to as many goals for the west-London side as the number of games he had played for City, way ahead of schedule.
It’s beginning to get frightening with regards to the kind of numbers Palmer could have to his name by the time he reaches, say, 100 appearances for Chelsea, a figure he is now more than halfway to.
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