Cole Palmer could ‘trigger a Man City return’ as Chelsea chase new attack star
Man City could step in to bring a former attacker back to the club to avoid Chelsea repeating their Cole Palmer success.
The decision to let the young attacker depart The Etihad for Stamford Bridge last summer is one that the Premier League champions will surely have some regret over.
Since making that move to London, the 22-year-old has become one of the best players in the Premier League, having previously been a bit-part player for Pep Guardiola’s side.
As a result, they will surely now be feeling as though they have lost out on a major asset by letting the England international go, especially given their sudden collapse in form – the 4-0 thrashing by Tottenham was their fifth-straight defeat.
The Premier League champions could therefore be prompted to take action in the transfer market, in response to latest reports emerging from Chelsea.
Man City won’t want Cole Palmer repeat as Chelsea eye Liam Delap
Back in the summer, the Premier League champions sanctioned the departure of Liam Delap, who was sold to Ipswich Town.
The striker left having only ever made a handful of appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side, spending several spells out on loan in the Championship.
He is now playing regular Premier League football for the first time with the Tractor Boys, and has impressed with six goals in 12 league games so far.
That is attracting attention from elsewhere, with The i now reporting that Chelsea are keen to sign the striker after giving up on Newcastle’s Alexander Isak, so Man City may be tempted to act to stop that happening and going through a repeat of the Palmer situation.
As part of the £20million move that took Delap to Portman Road, there is a buyback clause that the Premier League champions can trigger to re-sign him (Fabrizio Romano).
Given the interest that is emerging in the 22-year-old from Stamford Bridge, using that clause could be important to avoid a repeat of the Palmer situation.
Delap is already showing how good he can be in the Premier League with Ipswich, and he could thrive even more with a stronger team around him as he would have at Chelsea, with Palmer potentially providing the assists.
That would also make his departure more of a problem for his former club, since he would be another they have let go, who could be set to join a club who will want to challenge them for trophies, not least now that Guardiola is struggling for obvious back up to Erling Haaland since Julian Alvarez was sold to Atletico Madrid for £81.5m (BBC Sport).
The buy-back clause in Delap’s move to Ipswich would help Man City to prevent that situation. Given what has happened since he left The Etihad, triggering it may well be getting more and more appealing for them.
Palmer may be long gone now but his success in West London could be the reason for another young sensation ending up back on the blue side of Manchester in the near future.
In other news, Man City have been given an apparent boost in their pursuit of a Bournemouth player.
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