Manchester City are no strangers when it comes to developing young talents at the club.
For example, City have seen the likes of Phil Foden and Rico Lewis come through their academy to become regular figures in the senior squad.
On the flip side, the Blues have sold players that they have helped develop in their youth ranks such as Morgan Rogers, Tosin Adarabioyo, Jadon Sancho, Tommy Doyle and Taylor Harwood-Bellis among others.
Another big-name player and academy graduate the Manchester club sold in recent years is Cole Palmer.
Having joined Chelsea during the 2023 summer transfer window in a deal worth a reported fee of £42.5m (via BBC Sport), the Englishman has gone on to score 31 goals and deliver 19 assists in 53 appearances.
Now – however – one pundit and former City player has shared some behind-the-scenes information about how different Palmer’s path could have been while he was on the books at the Etihad Stadium.
- Man City 2024/25 squad cost in full: Transfer fees and stats for every player
Nedum Onuoha drops Cole Palmer claim on early Man City days
While discussing Palmer in a recent episode of Planet Premier League, Nedum Onuoha said this about how the player was first considered by City while he was still in their youth ranks.
He said: “I’m not sure if this is common knowledge as such, but when he was coming through the City’s Academy, he was a good player, but he wasn’t the best player.
“It came to a point where I believe just before he came in for under 16s or 17s or whatever that first stage is of coming in full time, that they were potentially going to let him go.
“I think looking at sort of data, just the way he was as a person, they were looking to let him go.
“But apparently one of the reasons he stayed is Jason Wilcox, who was the academy director at Man City at the time, stuck his neck out and said, ‘No, I think there’s something here with this player.’ And now we get to see what type of player that he is.
“I think he came through a very good City academy side. It’s the side that won the Youth Cup in 2020. But I think it just shows sometimes, like to be able to see something and be able to have the courage to sort of stick with it.
“Cole Palmer could have been lost in a system. He could have been playing something else, could have been doing something somewhere else.
“But now we see him, as I say, as one of the best players in the Premier League. And it is, as I say, a lot of it, you could argue is down to Jason Wilcox when he was at City at that time.”
What has been said about Cole Palmer since he left City?
After making 64 appearances for City’s youth sides, scoring 42 goals and delivering 19 assists along the way, Palmer featured in 41 games for Pep Guardiola’s team across all competitions, bagging six goals and supplying two assists.
Back in August, having seen the 22-year-old enjoy such a strong debut season with Chelsea, Jamie Carragher suggested that Guardiola made a mistake by allowing Palmer to leave City permanently.
Prior to that, back in April, Guardiola admitted that he should have given Palmer more minutes at City in an effort to help him become the player he is now.
With Onuoha now highlighting how Wilcox had to convince City to not release the Englishman while he was still a part of the academy, it’s interesting to think where Palmer could be now if that hadn’t been the case.
