Cole Palmer joined Chelsea on deadline day last summer and has firmly established himself. As soon as he was given the chance,
he quickly earned his place in the team and never looked back. He is currently one of the top scorers in the Premier League,
and probably across Europe, with most people considering him the best player of the season.
But as Fabrizio Romano reveals in a fascinating article in Caught Offside, things could have been very different.
Before Chelsea’s late intervention, the attacking midfielder’s future turned out to be very different.
Josep Guardiola said on Friday that Cole Palmer had asked him to leave Manchester City for two seasons, Romano explained in his regular column for the Daily Briefing.
“Burnley wanted to loan Palmer and Brighton were also interested in him, but once Chelsea entered the race no other clubs could compete.
“Palmer wanted to join Chelsea and Joe Shields, who had known Palmer since his days in Manchester City’s academy, was instrumental in arranging the deal.
He deserves a lot of credit for that decision and Palmer wanted to play regularly.
Of course, Palmer’s ability means he will eventually find his way to the top, and we’re sure of that. But playing for a struggling team like
Burnley would have taken him further away from goal and away from the areas in which he was tremendously effective.
This Chelsea team is certainly not perfect, but at least everything is in place to get the best out of Palmer, allowing him to shine even when his teammates are struggling.
This will be one of those moments that Palmer will look back on in the future and think, “What if…” and not in a good way.
