Cole Palmer could still be at Manchester City, if PSV Eindhoven had been successful in a very ambitious transfer attempt for him last summer.
That’s according to Algemeen Dagblad, who report that the new Dutch champions tried to get the forward before he ended up at Chelsea.
Palmer has been one of the revelations of the season after deciding to swap Manchester City for Chelsea in a €47m deal in the summer.
Since then, he has established himself as the leading man for the Blues, shining amid the madness this season, with a hugely impressive tally of 26 goals and 13 assists in 45 games in all competitions so far.
The transfer has been an undoubted success for Chelsea, who cannot say the same about the majority of their transfer business in recent years.
His success has also led to questions being asked at Manchester City, though, with many naturally believing that Pep Guardiola made a major mistake in sanctioning Palmer’s departure in the summer.
And it seems that could have been avoided, at least according to Algemeen Dagblad and journalist Maarten Wijffels, who report that PSV were in the mix.
According to them the Dutch champions were ‘close to attracting’ Palmer on loan last summer, with a deal seemingly agreed with Manchester City.
They ‘almost succeeded’ in getting the deal done but Chelsea ‘proved to be the most decisive’ and moved quickly to get him on a permanent basis instead.
That left PSV disappointed, Palmer on his way to Stamford Bridge, where he’s since been a major success, and Manchester City seemingly left wondering what might have been if the Blues had not intervened.