Cole Palmer is a generational talent but Chelsea deal shows Man City's supremacy
Since making his senior debut three years ago, Cole Palmer has played eight hours of Premier League football.
On Friday, though, he became a £42.5million footballer. Even by Chelsea’s and the Premier League’s standards, the signing of Palmer is somewhat bizarre.
For a start, Chelsea, presumably, see themselves as direct competitors of Manchester City yet they have signed a player who was, essentially, surplus to requirements at the Etihad. Not only have they signed a City reserve player, they have paid an initial fee of FORTY MILLION POUNDS for a City reserve player.
They have paid FORTY MILLION POUNDS for a City reserve player who has ONE Premier League assist to his name and has not scored a single Premier League goal. He has 182 minutes of Champions League football to his name and one goal and no assists.
He has 233 minutes of FA Cup football to his name and two goals and two assists. He has played 392 minutes of Carabao Cup football, scoring six times and assisting once.
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Of course, Palmer has not been bought by Chelsea on the basis of his statistics - the 21-year-old has been bought because of his obvious potential.
Palmer was an influential member of the England squad that won the under-21 Euros in the summer and has long been seen by many at the Etihad as one who could follow Phil Foden in establishing himself in the first team reckoning.
But City’s and Pep Guardiola’s attitude towards the importance of nurturing youngsters for the first team is encapsulated by Palmer’s sale. The attitude, now shared by the vast majority of elite clubs, is that it is important to produce players for the first team but it is not vital.
Manchester City sold Cole Palmer to Chelsea for £42.5m on Deadline Day (Harriet Lander - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)City - and, indeed, Chelsea and many others - invest huge amounts of money in their academy system but recoup a lot of that money by selling players from that system.
As those players are homegrown, they help the Financial Fair Play cause as all proceeds are seen as profit. And, for City, that is a decent profit on Palmer, a boyhood fan of the club who hails from Wythenshawe.
With a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge, his move to Chelsea is already a life-changer and you can fully understand his motives for going.
In addition to the considerable financial implications, he would have seen City recruit players such as Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes and realised opportunities were not going to get any more plentiful any time soon.
Palmer fell down the pecking order at City after they signed Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes (The FA via Getty Images)But, still, of all the eye-catching moves of another remarkable transfer window, Palmer’s switch to Chelsea was perhaps the oddest. And a sign that bringing players through your youth systems is not just about building a base for future teams, it is about creating a lucrative sales outlet.
It is also a reflection of City’s supremacy. Palmer is a generational talent yet City were happy to sell him to what should be a direct rival. And that tells you an awful lot.
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