Chelsea’s acquisition of Cole Palmer in 2023 seems to be causing problems for their London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Chelsea signed Palmer from Manchester City in a transfer that will haunt the former Premier League champions for a long time.
Palmer struggled against Crystal Palace over the weekend, but he has been a revelation for the Blues overall since joining. In 98 appearances, the attacking midfielder has scored 43 goals.
City now look determined not to sell another one of their rising stars to a Premier League rival.
Manchester City don’t want Cole Palmer repeat with Savinho
Tottenham have made Savinho a key target and are trying to sign the Brazilian before the transfer window closes in September.
However, so far, City are preventing Savinho from joining Thomas Frank’s side because of Palmer.
According to the reliable Fabrizio Romano, someone very important at the Etihad is blocking Savinho’s move to Tottenham after watching Palmer’s success in west London. They do not want a repeat of that.
On Spurs’ interest in Savinho, Romano said: “There is someone specific, very important at Manchester City, blocking the deal for Savinho to Tottenham.”
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The Italian journalist later went on to add: “There is someone in the management of Manchester City — on the board of Manchester City — with a strong desire to keep the player, probably also because we all saw what happened with Cole Palmer.
“Man City did fantastic this year in terms of transfer strategy, signings, sales and all the rest, but Cole Palmer to Chelsea remains something that is still in the eyes of people in Manchester City.”
Palmer is payback for Kevin De Bruyne’s own success at City. While Chelsea did not sell the Belgian playmaker to the Citizens, he was once on their books before landing at the Etihad after a couple of spells in Germany.
In April, it was claimed that Chelsea were thinking about re-signing De Bruyne this summer, but the 34-year-old left City for Napoli instead.
Cole Palmer’s stance on rejoining Manchester City one day
There have been some rumours about City being interested in bringing Palmer back to the Etihad, but that chapter appears to be closed for the 23-year-old.
Last month, it was reported that Palmer has no intention of returning to City and is enjoying proving his former club wrong at Stamford Bridge.
Palmer has a contract until 2033, so even if he did fancy rejoining Pep Guardiola’s team, Chelsea are under no pressure to sell.