Manchester City REJECT opening bid from Chelsea for Cole Palmer

Premier League champions Manchester City have rejected an opening bid from Chelsea for Cole Palmer.

Talk of interest from Stamford Bridge in the England under-21 international first emerged on Wednesday morning, after it was claimed that Chelsea had identified Palmer as their number one target for the remainder of the transfer window.

It is known that Palmer is currently weighing up his options and has commanded interest from across the Premier League and in Europe, with the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion, West Ham United, and Borussia Dortmund all interested.

However, Manchester City are understood to be seeking a significant transfer fee for one of their star academy graduates, and it is believed that they have no interest in a loan move for the ongoing season.

Now, according to the information of Jacob Steinberg, it has been reported that Chelsea have had a £35 million bid for Cole Palmer rejected by Manchester City.

It has been reported elsewhere that Chelsea’s pursuit of Cole Palmer is believed to be driven by Joe Shields, their co-director of recruitment and talent, who has previously worked with Manchester City’s academy.

Shields was also at the centre of a major recruitment drive at Southampton prior to his switch to Stamford Bridge, in a summer transfer window that saw all of Romeo Lavia, Juan Larios, Gavin Bazunu, and Samuel Edozie all move to the south coast.

Elsewhere, Manchester City are closing in on a deal for Wolves’ Matheus Nunes, with reports from France suggesting that the Treble winners have now had a bid accepted for the midfielder which could see one of their existing squad members go the other way on loan in a separate deal.