The Cole Palmer ultimatum that backfired

Tom Weber

• Updated: 13 Jan 2024 12:41 GMT
• 3 min read

Cole Palmer has reiterated that he did not intend to leave Manchester City in the summer, but that Pep Guardiola left him no choice but to depart.

The youngster has been on fire for Chelsea since arriving for a sizeable €47 million. In fact, Palmer has been one of the few bright spots of what has been otherwise yet another dire campaign for the Blues.

With his stunning form, notching eight goals and four assists in 17 Premier League outings this term, Palmer has earned himself a place in Gareth Southgate's England squad. All things considered, leaving Man City was the best thing he could have done for his career.

And yet, the 21-year-old has not been shy about admitting that he did not actually want to leave last season's treble winners. Ahead of Chelsea's 1-0 loss in the Carabao Cup first-leg to Middlesbrough, Palmer told Sky Sports: “My thing was to never leave City."

“That was not my intention. I wanted to go on loan for a year, come back and be ready for the first team. But they said I couldn't go on loan, either stay or you get sold. So then, Chelsea rang me. I said I wanted to go to Chelsea and I'm really happy to be here. I'm very glad I made the decision to come here.”

City's ultimatum

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Palmer has once again reiterated this point, again claiming that he originally had no intention to leave his boyhood club. "Initially I didn’t want to leave," he said. "I said I would go on loan and play for a year so I was ready for first-team football more because I didn’t play a lot of minutes [last season]."

"But then Pep said, 'you’re either staying or you’re getting sold' and, so yeah, I just got sold. I was a bit confused why they wouldn’t let me go on loan but [then] I said I wanted to go to Chelsea and I’m glad it’s turned out the way it has."

Guardiola's ultimatum has clearly backfired. It appears to be one of the few decisions the illustrious Spaniard has got wrong.