Chelsea’s co-sporting directors, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, have provided a detailed explanation as to how they managed to convince Manchester City to sell Cole Palmer for just £42.5m in 2023. The player himself apparently needed little convincing.

On the final day of the 2023 summer transfer window, Chelsea pulled off one last deal in a hectic off-season. The Blues had already splashed almost £350m on ten other players before tying Palmer down to a seven-year deal which came as a surprise to everyone, including the club’s hierarchy.

“We didn’t think necessarily that we’d be able to get him here really, did we?” Stewart reflected in an interview with the Telegraph. “There was a feeling that ‘no, Cole Palmer won’t be for sale’.

“We’d been speaking about him throughout that window and then as it came towards the latter stage of the window, we felt like we wanted to do something else and do something around that area of the pitch. He came up again and we all said, ‘let’s go for it, let’s see what’s possible’. And then there seemed to be a little bit of feedback that there could be something there.”

Palmer had been part of City’s academy since he was six and was struggling to break into the club’s first team. The season before he moved to London, the then-21-year-old only made seven starts across all competitions. Palmer later revealed that he wanted “to play football week in, week out” but had not intended to permanently leave City.

Unlike many of the signings which Winstanley and Stewart have overseen, Palmer represents incredible value for money. After racking up 22 Premier League goals last term – a tally only Erling Haaland could surpass – England’s player of the year looks a bargain at £42.5m.

“I wanted to go on loan for a year,” Palmer explained midway through his debut season at Chelsea, “come back and be ready for the first team but he [Guardiola] said I can’t go on loan. You either ‘stay or you get sold.'”

Chelsea’s director Winstanley confirmed that the Blues were also opposed to a temporary deal. “We weren’t going to get him on loan and that wouldn’t have suited us, either,” he revealed. “We would have always preferred a permanent deal with someone like Cole.

“Then you enter a period when all of a sudden there’s a sense this might have some legs, let’s push, let’s go. And then once you set off on that journey, you’ve got to try to see it through if there’s a chance. And, to be fair to Cole, he showed great desire to come here and that’s the sort of player we want, the personality and the desire to come here.”

Stewart agreed that Palmer would be worth twice as much if he was on sale this season. “I think if he went into the market now his value would be a lot higher, that’s for sure,” the director grinned. “His output’s been incredible.”

Winstanley looked beyond his price tag, claiming that there is “no doubt” that Palmer can one day win the Ballon d’Or. “He’s got a bit of maverick personality on the pitch, you can see that. You can see it in training, you can see it in the games. He’s got that ability.”

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