
Chelsea
Premier League • England
Chelsea astonishingly double best player’s price tag to prevent Prem rivals pinching him before contract talks

Chelsea could turn a major profit on last summer's signing
Chelsea are ready to stand firm against interest from some of the biggest clubs in the Premier League for attacking midfielder Cole Palmer by setting a remarkable asking price for the England international, a report has revealed.
Over the past couple of years, Chelsea have spent an alarming amount of money on new players that have failed to live up to expectations. One exception has been Palmer, who joined from Manchester City for £42.5m last summer and has very much stood out as someone who is worth it.
Some eyebrows were raised about the size of the fee Chelsea paid for Palmer given his relative lack of starts for Man City, but he has justified it on the pitch with 14 goals and 12 assists so far from 34 appearances.
No player has more goals or assists for the Blues this season than the 21-year-old. Indeed, Palmer has directly contributed to around 40% of all the goals Chelsea have scored in the Premier League this season.
As a whole club, though, Chelsea are still stuck in midtable, a long way off where they want to be. In turn, there have been recent rumours about Palmer being poached by one of their fellow ‘big six’ sides who are in more familiar territory.
Exactly who out of Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United and his former employers at Man City is the main interested party in Palmer has not yet come to light, but the danger of losing him after one year is there for Chelsea.
In response, Chelsea are preparing to hold talks with Palmer about a contract renewal, even though they already tied him down until 2030 when signing him.
Chelsea set new Cole Palmer price tag
While willing to offer him a payrise in reflection of his importance to the team, they have also set a significant asking price in case they do receive any transfer bids for him this summer.
Many Chelsea players have dropped in value this season, but Palmer has been bucking the trend.
According to Football Insider, Chelsea believe Palmer’s value has doubled since they signed him. In other words, their benchmark for doing business would stand at £85m or more.
If anyone offers that kind of money and Chelsea accept, Palmer would become their second most expensive export of all time behind Eden Hazard – perhaps highlighting how strong their stance of wanting to keep him is.
To stand the best chance of that, they will need to make more progress on the pitch, aiming to get back into European territory in order to convince Palmer his commitment is not misplaced.
For now, he is happy at the club – and Chelsea want to keep it that way. They will just have to hope his head is not turned by interest from above in the Premier League while they themselves are lagging behind.
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