Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi has admitted the Seagulls tried to sign Cole Palmer from Manchester City last summer.
Palmer has been one of the stars of the Premier League this season following his £42.5m move to Stamford Bridge on deadline day last summer.
The 22-year-old has scored 21 Premier League goals and provided ten assists so far with two games of the campaign still left.
Brighton tried to sign Palmer
Palmer’s form has seen him become a full England international and be nominated for both the Premier League Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards.
His goal in the 5-0 win against West Ham saw him become just the third player in Premier League history aged 21 or under to register 30 goal contributions in a single league season.
However, things could have been very different and Palmer could have been lining up for Wednesday evening’s opponents Brighton.
De Zerbi admitted he’s a big fan of Palmer and Brighton pushed hard to try and bring the versatile forward to the club.
“We tried to bring him last summer”, De Zerbi told his pre match press conference.
“We thought he could be a top player, the qualities of Palmer are clear.
“This season he is playing very well, scoring a lot of goals.”
It’s safe to say Chelsea’s season would have played out very differently had they not signed Palmer, and whilst other players would have contributed in different ways, the Blues perhaps wouldn’t be in the position they are in now without him.
With two games to go Chelsea currently sit seventh, level on points with Newcastle and will need to win their last two games and hope the Magpies slip up if they are to secure a top six finish.
However, a sixth place finish may not give the Blues Europa League football if Manchester United win the FA Cup, and would instead mean participation in the Europa Conference League next season.
