Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, left, said he as ‘privileged’ to work with Cole Palmer (Martin Rickett/Andrew Matthews/PA)
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, left, said he as ‘privileged’ to work with Cole Palmer (Martin Rickett/Andrew Matthews/PA)
Sam Wallace
Daily Telegraph
Today at 13:16
There is a view within Chelsea that when the club moved to sign Cole Palmer at the end of last year’s summer transfer window the man who would become the new star of English football had just two alternatives: a move to West Ham or a loan to the newly-promoted Burnley.
West Ham first had to sell Lucas Paqueta to Palmer’s then club Manchester City, a transfer that may have happened but for the discovery of the Football Association charges against Paqueta, which he is fighting. So does history pivot on such details. Chelsea’s first choice, Michael Olise, according to sources close to that prospective deal before Palmer arrived that summer, was not prepared to accept the newly structured contracts being offered to young talent at Chelsea.