COLE PALMER claims he wanted to stay at Manchester City for his whole career – until they gave him a shock ultimatum.
Etihad chiefs told the exciting attacker last summer he must stay or leave permanently – ruling out the loan move he wanted.
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So the 21-year-old switched to Chelsea for £42.5million – and admits he’s surprised himself with his rate of progress.
Palmer has now won two full England caps, with Blues’ boss Maurico Pochettino believing he could become as good as Argentinian wing legend Angel Di Maria.
The Manchester-born attacker has notched eight goals and four assists in 16 Premier League matches this season, although he missed two glorious chances in Tuesday’s 1-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg loss at Middlesbrough.
And any despair at leaving City has turned to delight over choosing Chelsea.
Palmer told Sky Sports: “My thing was to never leave City.
“I wanted to go on loan for a year, come back and be ready for the first team.
“But they said I couldn’t go on loan, either stay or you get sold.
“So then, Chelsea rang me. I said I wanted to go to Chelsea and I’m really happy to be here. I’m very glad I made the decision to come here.”
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Palmer has become one of the few consistent bright lights for the mid-table Blues.
But he said: “To get in the team straight away and hit the ground running has surprised me to be fair.”
