Manchester City ‘almost’ agreed deal to keep Cole Palmer through loan deal with recently-crowned league champions

Cole Palmer came close to tying himself to Manchester City for the ongoing season last summer, through an agreement over a loan deal to the Netherlands.

The England forward ultimately came to sign for Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea on a seven-year contract, with the option of a further year, with the transfer fee reported to be an initial £40 million, potentially rising by £2.5 million in add-ons.

However, a number of reports in recent weeks have revealed just how close Manchester City came to retaining the services of Palmer, either through alternative transfers away from the Etihad Stadium, or a renewed faith in his abilities to perform under Pep Guardiola.

There has been talk in recent weeks that Vincent Kompany’s Burnley had been targeted as a possible temporary destination for Chelsea’s current top scorer, while City had also tried to encourage Palmer to commit himself to the Etihad project for at least another season.

Now, new information from the Netherlands has surfaced which appears to indicate a clear desire from Manchester City to keep Palmer within their club in some capacity, with the top side from Holland coming close to recruiting him last summer.

That is according to the information of Algemeen Dagblad, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness, who report that newly-crowned Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven were ‘close to attracting’ Palmer on loan last summer, having seemingly agreed a deal with Manchester City.

However, having ‘almost succeeded’ in getting a deal done for the England international, it was Chelsea who ‘proved to be the most decisive’ and the Premier League side moved quickly to get Palmer on a permanent basis.

Cole Palmer has had a transformational effect on Chelsea’s attacking line since joining the club from Manchester City last summer, with his goals tally ensuring that Mauricio Pochettino’s side stay clear of the Premier League’s relegation zone.

Across Palmer’s 42 appearances for the Stamford Bridge outfit, the 22-year-old has managed to score 24 goals and provide 13 assists in all competitions, and his 21 Premier League goals has him ranked second in the top-scorers charts – behind Erling Haaland’s tally of 25.

While Manchester City retain a financial interest in the deal due to the add-ons installed into last summer’s agreement, it is understood that Etihad bosses do not retain a buy-back or sell-on clause in the deal.