The real reason Cole Palmer joined Chelsea? Pundit suggests Guardiola ‘clash’ led to Man City exit

Cole Palmer joined Chelsea from Manchester City at the beginning of last season and has now established himself as one of the Premier League’s best players.

The nine-time capped England international is a product of Man City’s academy and made 41 senior appearances for the club before making the switch to Stamford Bridge.

Palmer has come on leaps and bounds since the move and has scored a fantastic 31 goals in 54 appearances for Chelsea so far, as well as making 20 assists.

He scored four goals in just 41 minutes in the Blues’ win over Brighton last month and sits second in the Premier League scoring charts, behind Erling Haaland.

Palmer struggled for consistent minutes under Pep Guardiola at the Etihad and pundit Danny Mills has speculated over why the manager decided to let him go.

“The problem that I think he had at Manchester City, Pep likes to play in a certain way and Pep doesn’t really like those sort of freedom-esque players, which is why he had to reign Jack Grealish in an awful lot and he changed his game almost completely from what Jack was,” Mills told talkSPORT.

“[Grealish was] amazing and [that’s] why he got that move to Man City, he then became a completely different player. I don’t think Cole Palmer was willing to do that and was willing to change and become a player that’s going to sit in that position and work back and do as he told.”

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‘I think there was a clash between him and Pep’

Mills believes that Guardiola’s tactical demands may have led to a feud with Palmer. He has been given more freedom at Chelsea it’s fair to say it’s paying dividends.

“Palmer’s personality just seems like ‘Well I’m just going to play football and I’m going to do this,’” Mills added.

“And I think maybe there was a clash between him and Pep, where he wouldn’t do what Pep wanted him to do and that’s why ultimately Pep let him go.”

Chelsea currently sit fourth in the Premier League table and for the first time in a long while, look like they could compete for trophies again under new manager Enzo Maresca. Palmer has played a major part in the Blues’ resurgence and is flourishing at Stamford Bridge.

However, he did reveal in an interview with Sky Sports in July that he never wanted to leave Man City, but ultimately a lack of playing time led to his decision.

“My thing was to never leave City,” Palmer said. “That was not my intention. 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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IN FOCUS: Cole Palmer’s 2024/25 stats so far