Paul Dickov has shared his assessment of Cole Palmer’s summer transfer move from Manchester City to Chelsea.
During the previous summer transfer window, Palmer joined the west London club from City in a deal worth £42.5m.
With the Englishman now in line to face off against his old side this weekend as the Citizens travel to Stamford Bridge for their latest Premier League outing, one pundit and former City player has shared his thoughts on the 21-year-old, including his move away from the Etihad Stadium and how he has fared at Chelsea so far.
Dickov weighs in on Palmer’s City exit
Speaking on talkSPORT, Dickov had this to say about Palmer.
He said: “He’s a fantastic young player, we’ve seen him come through the academy from a very young age and he’s always been earmarked for the one that after Phil Foden is going to go and kick on.
“I think everyone was maybe slightly surprised that he did move on but when you get offered 50-odd million for an academy kid, it’s very hard to turn down, especially when, and this is no disrespect to Chelsea, we were just talking about [Jack] Grealish, [Jeremy] Doku, [Phil] Foden, Bernardo Silva, obviously Kevin De Bruyne to come back.
“Cole was at the age where he really needed to go and play because he’s a fantastic talent but I couldn’t, and this is no disrespect to Cole because I love him to bits but I couldn’t see him nailing a place down in this Man City side because of the competition for places.
“Sometimes, you need to go away and play and to go into Chelsea and start the way he’s done at such a young age, taking the penalty off Raheem Sterling, he’s a confident boy and he really does look Chelsea’s best player at the minute.
“Talking about Raheem, him and Cole will probably feel like they’ve got a point to prove on Sunday at Stamford Bridge against Man City.”
Having made 41 senior appearances for City across all competitions, scoring six goals and delivering two assists, the Englishman has now scored three goals and supplied four assists in just 10 games for Chelsea.
Prior to his move to Chelsea, Palmer said in the media that his aim for this season was to play regular football, either at City or elsewhere.
With the midfielder now having played more Premier League minutes for Chelsea than he did during his time at the Manchester club, this shows that he has, for now, achieved his aim of being able to play on a regular basis.
Taking that into account and the money that City picked up for a player they produced from their academy, it’s easy to see why Dickov thinks this move has worked out well for all parties.
Moving forward, whether Palmer will be heading out on Sunday with a point to prove to his old side, City’s main objective will be to make sure they secure all three points and stay at the top of the Premier League table.
