Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer has emphatically denied that he plans to leave the Blues for Manchester United this summer.
Palmer has been rumoured as a target for the Old Trafford club for weeks, with The Transfers Podcast revealing in January that his representatives had started to sound out the possibility of a move.
Reports also claimed that he was homesick in London and wanted to move back to Manchester.
However, the 23-year-old claims that he is not seeking to leave Chelsea this season and is increasingly comfortable with life in the capital.
Cole Palmer: I’ve got no plans to move from Chelsea
Despite Chelsea’s difficult season, which could see them yet miss out on Champions League football next season, Palmer claims he has no intention of departing.
For the England star, seeing team-mate Reece James sign a lengthy new contract with the club was an important vote of confidence in the project.
“I’ve got no plans to move from Chelsea,” he told The Guardian. “We’ve still got a lot to play for. We’ve got the FA Cup semi-final, and if we finish in a Champions League spot it puts us in a good position to sign players that we need. We spoke to the owners and they’re sure of the players that are going to do it.
“Reece won’t sign a six-year contract if he’s not spoken to the owners and the directors.
“Me and Reece spoke a lot. About things we need, players we need to sign and how things need to be. He wouldn’t sign a new contract if he didn’t know what was going on.”
And he also claims that he doesn’t miss Manchester, where he came through the City academy and grew up supporting United.
“Everyone just talks. When I see it, I just laugh,” Palmer, who recently bought a house in Surrey, says. “Obviously Manchester is my home. All my family are there, but I don’t miss it. Maybe I’ll miss it if I don’t go for three months or something. But then when I get home I think there’s nothing there for me anyway.”
The best in the Premier League
Palmer’s message of commitment to Chelsea will be music to the board’s ears at a time when owner Behdad Eghbali has admitted that their transfer policy will shift towards signing “elite” rather than promising players in the summer.
The Manchester-born attacking midfielder is already at that level, though. Indeed, according to SciSports, he has been the best player in his position in the Premier League this season, despite injury problems limiting him to 21 appearances and nine goals.
The data analytics company also rates him as Chelsea’s best player ahead of the likes of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, while he has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €98.2 million.
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