Cole Palmer: Man City ‘willing’ to pay record transfer fee for Chelsea star who Pep Guardiola is ‘determined’ to sign

Manchester City have set their sights on re-signing Cole Palmer from Premier League rivals Chelsea, according to a report.

Palmer is a product of Man City’s academy and ended his 13-year association with the Citizens when he joined Chelsea in the summer of 2023 for a reported £45m.

The 23-year-old left City in search of regular first-team football and he has since established himself as a star player for Chelsea, winning the 2023-24 PFA and Premier League Young Player of the Season awards after recording 27 goals and 15 assists in 48 games in a magnificent debut campaign.

Last season, Palmer scored 15 goals and provided 12 assists in 46 appearances for a Chelsea side who won the Conference League and qualified for the Champions League courtesy of fourth-placed finish in the Premier League.

The versatile playmaker elevated his game to new heights when he inspired Chelsea to Club World Cup glory earlier this summer, contributing to all three goals (two goals, one assist) in an impressive 3-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the final.

Man City ‘willing’ to offer British-record fee for Palmer

Palmer is viewed as an integral member of Enzo Maresca’s first-team squad heading into the new campaign and Chelsea are under no pressure to part ways with the England international, who is under contract at Stamford Bridge until June 2033.

Nevertheless, Fichajes reports that Pep Guardiola has always admired Palmer’s talent and he is determined to bring him back to Man City ‘at all costs’.

The Citizens are allegedly willing to offer up to $170m (£126.1m) to bring Palmer back to the Etihad Stadium, which would represent a British-record fee and eclipse the £116m (£100m plus £16m in add-ons) transfer of Florian Wirtz to Liverpool earlier this summer.

Man City are said to believe that Palmer can make a difference in their project and they do not want to pass up the opportunity to re-sign the playmaker, though prising him away from Chelsea could prove challenging.

‘Chelsea are going in the right direction’, says Palmer

If Palmer were to ever leave Chelsea in the future, one would assume that Man City would be a leading candidate for his signature, but the chances of the Englishman exiting Stamford Bridge any time soon seem highly unlikely.

After winning the Club World Cup and being named the Player of the Tournament, Palmer was full of praise for Maresca and he firmly believes that the future is bright for Chelsea, suggesting that he feels he is in the right place to continue his development.

"[Maresca] is building something special, something important,” Palmer told reporters last month. “Everyone has talked a lot of s*** about us all season, but I feel like we are going in the right direction."

Man City, meanwhile, already have a plethora of attacking options at their disposal, with Rayan Cherki signed earlier this summer following the departure of club legend Kevin De Bruyne.

Cherki is set to battle for regular starts under Guardiola with the likes of Phil Foden, Omar Marmoush, Savinho, Jeremy Doku, Oscar Bobb and new captain Bernardo Silva.

Written by
Oliver Thomas