The majority of Chelsea staff were kept in the dark over the club’s deadline day signing of Cole Palmer.
Another astonishing summer of spending at Stamford Bridge was capped on Friday by the shock addition of the England Under-21 international to a squad already bursting with attacking potential.
Quite where the versatile forward fits in under Mauricio Pochettino’s plan remains to be seen, however, especially given the Chelsea manager’s admission on Friday that he played no part in the transfer whatsoever.
‘I think the sporting director and the owner of course, but the sporting director it was his idea to add him to the squad,’ Pochettino told reporters when asked who drove the move for Palmer.
The former PSG and Tottenham boss was not the only high ranking member of Chelsea’s hierarchy who only learned of the plan to snare Palmer from the Premier League champions late in the day.
According to the Telegraph, Palmer’s arrival was kept secret until an agreement had been reached with City, in part owing to the embarrassing fallout which followed the collapse of Michael Olise’s proposed move from Crystal Palace earlier this month.
Chelsea thought they had secured the services of the France Under-21 international having activated a release clause, but the talented winger ultimately opted to remain at Selhurst Park, much to the delight of Palace who were angered by their London rivals, and signed a new long-term contract.
Palmer, meanwhile, is in contention to feature against Nottingham Forest this afternoon and is relishing the opportunity to be part of a new-look squad, alongside a number of fellow youngsters he knows well following his exploits with England over the summer.
‘I had an amazing summer winning the Euros with Noni [Madueke] and Levi [Colwill],’ Palmer says of England Under-21s’ recent triumph in Georgia, in which he starred.
‘Four weeks we had away. It was just memories. It was good. We knew how good the team was. We knew we could win it. It was just if we could put it together – and we did!’
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