Cole Palmer made his second appearance for Chelsea today following his £42.5m move from Manchester City.
The England Under-21 international was introduced by Mauricio Pochettino in the 63rd minute in place of Mykhailo Mudryk, but failed to make an impact as the Blues drew 0-0 against Bournemouth.
During the stalemate, Liam Twomey of The Athletic noticed Cole Palmer do one thing that he claims would not have happened at Manchester City…
What’s the story?
Well, it sounds as if the situation at Chelsea may already be having an impact on the 21-year-old’s confidence.
Palmer found himself in a promising area coming inside on his stronger left foot from the right flank, where he has made a habit of curling the ball home, just like he did in the FA Community Shield against Arsenal.
However, the Chelsea No.20 decided against his trademark finish on this occasion, choosing to pass to Raheem Sterling instead.
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After noticing the moment, Twomey wrote: “A few weeks ago in a Manchester City shirt, Cole Palmer would have just opened up his body there and curled a shot towards the far post without a second thought. Why do all these guys become so indecisive as soon as they get to Chelsea? It’s bizarre.”
Of course, it is still early days in the Manchester City academy graduate’s time at Stamford Bridge, but it is a shame to see that he has so far been unable to continue his excellent start to the 2023/24 campaign in a different shade of blue.
Agent baffled by Manchester City selling Cole Palmer
Earlier this week, one unnamed football agent told The Athletic that they couldn’t believe Manchester City allowed Palmer to join Chelsea.
They said: “The Cole Palmer one surprised me. Just did not expect Man City to let that happen. They seem to be confident replacing the other players, but they don’t usually let a young guy go like that who is so close to the first team.”
Hopefully, things improve for the forward at Chelsea on a personal level after he took the bold step to leave Manchester City, but as things stand, it hasn’t been plain sailing by any means.