Chelsea look like they have signed an absolute gem in Cole Palmer as he continues to shine in his first handful of games for the club.
The Blues signed Palmer from Manchester City in the final days of the transfer window in the summer, and at the time some fans were questioning why they were signing a player who they thought couldn’t make it at City and the club wanted to sell him.
Well, that wasn’t the case, at least according to journalist Ben Jacobs writing in his latest exclusive and extensive Chelsea FC column for SPTC today.
https://twitter.com/siphillipssport/status/1711357510483861830?s=20
Jacobs says that it was actually Palmer that wanted to leave City and the club did not want to keep a player that wanted to leave. So it wasn’t a case of City wanting him out, it was more a case of Palmer wanting to leave in order to get regular football which he obviously felt he had more of a chance of getting if he moved to Chelsea.
Jacobs said: “Cole Palmer got his first Chelsea and Premier League goal [on Saturday], and the fact he was given the penalty shows how highly he is trusted.
“Some Chelsea fans were a bit underwhelmed by Palmer’s arrival. This is maybe because if Manchester City agreed to sell, some (wrongly in my view) argue that somehow means Palmer is not quite up to elite-standards. Yet what some people don’t realise is it was Palmer who wanted to leave. Manchester City had to respect his wishes for more minutes and by departing the champions he’s probably even more intent to prove a point. Manchester City’s loss definitely looks like being Chelsea’s gain.”
I really appreciate this piece from Simon examining how supporter groupthink can be skewed. Kudos to him for not simply repeating the conventional “wisdom” of the majority.
Not only does it appear that the fanbase underestimated Palmer, but we can tick off a few other players where fan sentiment and the evidence of the new season seem at odds. For example, folks howled when Mount was sold (despite a massive drop off in form after the World Cup) and he’s pretty much laid an egg thus far at Utd, doing nothing to make us regret the move. Meanwhile, supporters were beating the drum to see Christian Pulisic sold (while some us repeatedly called for patience, faith and more playing time), and all he’s done given regular starts at Milan is score four goals and counting—more than any Chelsea squad member. So much for “the wisdom of the crowd.”