{"id":4952,"date":"2026-05-06T17:02:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=4952"},"modified":"2026-05-06T17:02:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:02:05","slug":"the-truth-about-cole-palmer-and-chelsea-blues-insiders-reveal-stance-on-man-united-links-why-missing-out-on-champions-league-football-would-be-double-blow-and-the-reasons-for-superstars-poor-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=4952","title":{"rendered":"The truth about Cole Palmer and Chelsea: Blues insiders reveal stance on Man United links, why missing out on Champions League football would be double blow and the reasons for superstar&#8217;s poor form"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">For Chelsea, nothing has changed.\u00a0Cole Palmer, not for sale. Sources insist they intend on strengthening their squad this summer, not weakening it, and that there is no financial need to sell their biggest names, regardless of which European competition they end up in, if any.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But then, Palmer has changed. He has not been the player\u00a0we know he can be. After 33 goal involvements under Mauricio Pochettino in 2023-24, and 23 under Enzo Maresca in 2024-25, he is on 10 in the Premier League this season, five from penalties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Hasn\u2019t scored since March. Hasn\u2019t assisted since February. Hasn\u2019t seemed majorly motivated to make a difference at a time when Chelsea have suffered six successive league losses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">He has had new injuries, a nagging groin issue giving him grief. He has had new tactics, Liam Rosenior arriving and leaving in the space of 106 days. He has had new team-mates, his club being the busiest of traders. But even so, the will to turn \u2018cold\u2019 has been lacking this term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">There has been only frustration on the field, some of it aimed at himself but also towards team-mates. When forced into playing a pass backwards, he is prone to doing so with a theatrical swing of the leg, as if to show his annoyance that he had no other options ahead of him.<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-4a8dc0b73ea11e7b\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/06\/11\/108411065-15794595-image-a-14_1778064361527.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Cole Palmer hasn\u2019t scored since March. He hasn\u2019t assisted since February. He has only 10 goal involvements in the Premier League this season, five of which were penalties\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Cole Palmer hasn\u2019t scored since March. He hasn\u2019t assisted since February. He has only 10 goal involvements in the Premier League this season, five of which were penalties<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><iframe name=\"xp-iframe-moub1nqlya5xwuytiva\" class=\"iframe-creator \" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/28849339\/embed\" allow=\"clipboard-write\" height=\"600\" style=\"border: 0; width: 0; min-width: 100%; \" id=\"xp-iframe-moub1nqlya5xwuytiva\"><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>    <\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Those sulky showings, along with Palmer\u2019s own slump, have only added to the speculation surrounding his future ahead of this summer and at a time when he has been heavily linked with a potential move to Manchester United despite being tied down to Chelsea until 2033.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Palmer said in an interview with <span class=\"mol-style-italic\">The Guardian<\/span> last month that he has learned to laugh off such links. The club\u2019s hierarchy had spoken privately with him, as they did with Reece James and Moises Caicedo when they agreed their new contracts until 2032 and 2033 respectively, to reassure him of the calibre of signings they will be targeting this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">That was at a time when Chelsea were still alive in the Champions League chase, and Palmer spoke of the importance of qualifying for Europe\u2019s elite competition so that they could be in a position to sign those players they need. Now their only hope is by slipping through the backdoor, by finishing sixth while relying on Aston Villa winning the Europa League and coming fifth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Sources with knowledge of the contractual structure at Stamford Bridge have confirmed the majority of the Blues\u2019 squad are now tied down to incentive-based deals. That sees the players\u2019 salaries aligned to success on the pitch, and it is believed participation in the Champions League is worth around 20 per cent of their wages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It became a policy within Chelsea to reward performance, while also acting as a form of financial protection for the club. Missing out on the Champions League not only hurts their pride, but their pockets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">While Palmer has sought to play down those United rumours publicly \u2013 and you can imagine there were those inside his club who hoped that might draw a line under such transfer talk \u2013 there remain sources outside of Chelsea who continue to claim he would consider such a move privately.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">However, that is still somewhat dependent on United deciding they want him. They already have Bruno Fernandes controlling the No 10 position so brilliantly that he is the frontrunner for the next Premier League Player of the Year award \u2013 he won my vote with the Football Writers\u2019 Association \u2013 so it is unclear whether they would even test the waters this summer. As sources inside Chelsea have insisted to <span class=\"mol-style-italic\">Daily Mail Sport<\/span>their stance is that they would reject any and all approaches regardless, and that he is going nowhere in the next window.<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-fb924d404fa27ecc\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/06\/11\/108410779-15794595-image-a-24_1778063722908.jpg\" height=\"458\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Palmer is on to his third manager of the season after Enzo Maresca (above), Liam Rosenior and now caretaker Calum McFarlane\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Palmer is on to his third manager of the season after Enzo Maresca (above), Liam Rosenior and now caretaker Calum McFarlane<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-370dbdf6a78bcf7a\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/06\/11\/108410777-15794595-image-m-26_1778063835206.jpg\" height=\"412\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Palmer has trademarked his name, his face, two signatures, his \u2018cold\u2019 celebration and a logo\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Palmer has trademarked his name, his face, two signatures, his \u2018cold\u2019 celebration and a logo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Chelsea have continued to support Palmer. They believe he can come back to his best, with interim Calum McFarlane the latest head coach to defend his faltering form, bringing up his groin injury from earlier in the season as one reason why he has been struggling to show his true self. Neither Chelsea nor Palmer have ever said in public that they think surgery is the answer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">England manager Thomas Tuchel was at Stamford Bridge on Monday to watch Chelsea lose 3-1 to Nottingham Forest, and witnessed Palmer\u2019s penalty saved by Matz Sels at 2-0 down. It is hardly a certainty that the Englishman, who turned 24 today, will be selected for this summer\u2019s World Cup, and not being taken to the United States would be a personal blow for Palmer and his image.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">His company, Palmer Management Limited, has trademarked his name, his face, two signatures, his \u2018cold\u2019 celebration and a logo. He is a Nike athlete, and, among other sponsorships, last week signed a multi-year agreement to become a Coca-Cola ambassador.\u00a0That will see him front campaigns for the fizzy drink, including during this summer\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The trademarks and commercial deals would seem awkward were he not there on football\u2019s biggest stage, which is where he believes he belongs, even if he has not been performing like a superstar this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Chelsea, nothing has changed.\u00a0Cole Palmer, not for sale. Sources insist they intend on strengthening&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}