It may be that Palmer ends up on the books at Camp Nou at some point in the future, with Barca forever in the market for the best players on the planet. The England international has been urged to leave himself open to such offers.
Former Chelsea midfielder Gus Poyet told GOAL recently: “I always encourage the English players to go abroad. One thing that they miss is to see something different. I always said when we played in England, as soon as a foreign player started playing the football you play anywhere else in the world, it’s ‘that one cheats, that one goes down’. Okay, the word cheat probably was right, but we play like that all over the world. I want to say to the English players ‘go to Spain, you wouldn’t last five minutes because they go down every 20 seconds’. You need to learn that game as well and another country. I think it is always a good learning situation.
“It’s individual, though, because the Premier League is the best - that is non-negotiable. I don’t care what anyone says. Spain had a moment when it was close to the Premier League, only because [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo were there. Now, there is no comparison. You are in the best league in the world, so I imagine that for players to go from the best to somewhere else is difficult. I would say if it is a top team, a Real Madrid, then you must. You will have an incredible and unique experience, not only in football but also in life. You will learn from that for the future, forever. I would like to see those quality players go to other places and enjoy that.”
Palmer is currently sidelined with a groin injury. He has not figured for Chelsea since being forced out of a Premier League clash with Manchester United on September 20. He has no need to go under the knife, with the threat of surgery being fended off, but the Blues playmaker remains a few weeks away from making a return to action.