Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea signing Cole Palmer for £42.5m wasn't his idea

01 September 2023 , 14:59

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Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea signing Cole Palmer for £42.5m wasn't his idea

Mauricio Pochettino admits signing Cole Palmer was a decision taken by Chelsea 's sporting directors - not him.

The Blues boss has seen another new player arrive with the west Londoners now spending £1bn in the transfer market since Todd Boehly took control of the club. Palmer has arrived from rivals Manchester City in a deal worth up to £42.5m after struggling for minutes at the Etihad.

It continues Chelsea's huge recruitment drive, which has often been overseen by the club's chiefs rather than the manager. Pochettino appeared in the dark when quizzed on a deal earlier this week and the Argentine admits, whilst he thinks the player is a good fit, his capture was not his decision.

He said: "I think the sporting director and the owner of course, but the sporting director it was his idea to add him to the squad. I think he’s fit for the project. Talented player, of course."

The Chelsea boss went on to add: "Also he decided to come because he expects to play maybe more and be important here but I think that is not the most important. He decided to come because Chelsea is a project for him and improve his game and going to be more involved in every single game.

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"I think the quality is there, it’s great potential and of course now he needs to settle here and prove and show that he’s better than his teammates and to play. It’s hard to fight for his place."

Cole Palmer has joined Chelsea from Manchester City (Harriet Lander - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Palmer came through the ranks on the blue half of Manchester and has already scored in this season's Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup. With plenty of quality at Pep Guardiola's disposal it was also going to be difficult for the youngster to play regularly.

Co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley have been those driving Chelsea's transfer business, which has twice seen them break the British transfer record to sign Enzo Fernandez and then Moises Caicedo with the likes of Christopher Nkunku also arriving.

Last term Graham Potter, who was axed by Boehly, conceded that he didn't have total say over the club's recruitment as he told BT Sport: "If you're the head coach, it's very hard to also have command over these targets and have a list of players that are "yours". I think my job is to support the club, which is a recruitment team, an ownership group. Whether it's transfers, whether it's daily environment, winning matches...it's a club. We're trying to win together as a club. Whilst I have an input in everything, I'm not the guy that sits in a room and decides everything."

Samuel Meade