Pochettino embarrassed, as report reveals he didn’t want Chelsea star now thriving at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino had to be ‘persuaded’ over the signing of Cole Palmer as he was not sure the club needed the attacker, according to a report.
Palmer left boyhood club Manchester City in the summer when Chelsea paid £42.5million to sign him on a seven-year contract. City coaches rated Palmer highly but knew he wanted to play more first-team football, which is why the treble winners sanctioned the transfer. Pep Guardiola has also suggested that the move allowed his club to sign in-form winger Jeremy Doku.
It understandably took Palmer a few weeks to get used to his new surroundings, but the right winger – who can also operate as a central attacking midfielder – is now thoroughly enjoying his time in West London.
He has managed four goals and four assists in 12 matches for Chelsea thus far. That includes a vital injury-time penalty to help Chelsea pick up a 4-4 draw against his former club City on November 12.
Palmer is quickly emerging into one of Chelsea’s most influential players. Indeed, following that goal against City, Jamie Carragher suggested him to be a new talisman for Pochettino and explained how he has a good ‘arrogance’ about him. Palmer’s top performances at club level have also seen him force his way into the senior England squad.
But things could have been far different for the 21-year-old. As per the Daily Mail, Pochettino was unsure about Chelsea spending over £40m on Palmer in the summer.
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That is because the Argentine felt Chelsea already had strong options out wide, including Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke. Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson are also able to play on the wing if needed.
However, director of recruitment Joe Shields ‘persuaded’ Pochettino to greenlight a swoop for Palmer. And Pochettino will be very thankful for that as Chelsea are benefitting from having the starlet in their squad.
Cole Palmer thriving under Pochettino
Pochettino clearly believes Palmer has the ability to become Chelsea’s main creator, as he has used him in the playmaker role just behind the main striker on occasion.
This is not the first time there has been an intriguing report on the transfer which took Palmer to Stamford Bridge in September. On November 24, the same source revealed that City did not manage to include a sell-on clause in the deal.
Guardiola’s side have done this plenty of times in the past and have picked up extra money for transfers involving Romeo Lavia and Jadon Sancho.
However, City failed to repeat that trick in this case, and they could end up missing out on decent money as a result. The Daily Mail pointed out how Palmer’s transfer value is only rising, and he could therefore be on the move for a huge sum in the future.
