Signing of the season? Cole Palmer sale a big mistake by Man City

Sam McGuire

• Updated: 4 Apr 2024 22:33 BST
• 4 min read

Manchester City don’t often make mistakes in the transfer market but allowing Cole Palmer to join Chelsea is beginning to look like one.

The versatile forward has been a revelation for the Blues following his £40 million move to Stamford Bridge. Few saw this coming.

Reports at the time revealed Chelsea had a blockbuster move lined up to finish the transfer window with Dusan Vlahovic and Darwin Nunez both mentioned by the media.

READ MORE: Latest Man City transfer news

Eyebrows were raised when a deal for Palmer was struck.

Chelsea weren’t exactly deprived of depth in wide areas and the fee seemed excessive for a player with fewer than 20 Premier League appearances to his name. Palmer didn’t feel like the huge coup that was initially hinted at by the media.

Yet as we head into the last weeks of the season, the 21-year-old has broken into the England team, he’s comfortably the player of the season for the Blues and there’s even an argument to be made that he’s the signing of the season across the Premier League.

READ MORE: Man City’s 10 most expensive transfers of all time

Mauricio Pochettino’s side aren’t exactly having a memorable campaign, they sit in 10th position following a stunning 4-3 win over Manchester United – a result that perfectly demonstrated just how important Palmer has been for Chelsea.

The No20 scored his first career hat-trick including a last minute winner to turn the game around for Chelsea. He’s responsible for 30% of the goals scored by the Blues and this jumps to 45% if you include assists. The left-footed attacker has been directly involved in almost half of the goals scored by the 2020/21 European champions.

Not only has he been scoring goals, but he’s also been scoring big goals. He’s found the back of the net against Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester City along with United.

Palmer has a goal involvement in his last five outings. This impressive run of form includes seven goals and three assists. This return coincides with the Blues claiming eight points from four games in the Premier League as well as reaching the FA Cup semi-final.

The Chelsea star is keeping pace with some of the best in the English top-flight this term. In fact, only Erling Haaland has more goals than the England star in the Premier League. Furthermore, only five players have more assists this term. Pedro Neto (nine), Mohamed Salah (nine), Watkins (10), Kieran Trippier (10), Pascal Gross (10) are the only ones who can boast a better return than Palmer’s eight.

The two-cap England star is putting up these numbers all while turning out for a dysfunctional Chelsea team. To say his performances are nothing short of remarkable is an understatement. Despite the praise going his way, he is still vastly underrated by the masses when you consider he’s effectively single-handedly carrying the attack for the Blues while Pochettino tries to bed in a number of players while putting his stamp on things at Stamford Bridge.

Other summer signings have caught the eye in impressive teams. Who else has done it while playing for a struggling side like Palmer?