Attacker has gone on to play for England after being forced into tough decision
COLE PALMER claims he wanted to stay at Manchester City for his whole career – until they gave him a shock ultimatum last summer.
Etihad chiefs told the exciting attacker he must stay or leave permanently – ruling out the loan move he wanted.
So the 21-year-old switched to Chelsea for £42.5million – and admits his rapid rate of progress since then has “surprised” even himself.
Palmer has gone on to win two full England caps, with Blues’ boss Maurico Pochettino believing he could become as good as Argentinian wing legend Angel Di Maria.
The Mancunian 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 Pep Guardiola’s Treble winners has turned to delight over his success with 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.”
Palmer has emerged as one of the few regular bright lights for the mid-table Blues.
But he insisted: “To get in the team straight away and hit the ground running has surprised me, to be fair.”
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