Thinking a few steps ahead, it seems, is something that is second nature to Cole Palmer both on and off the pitch.
As he takes his seat on the sofa in one of the rooms in the cottage near the entrance to Chelsea’s Surrey training ground, Palmer checks first to see if this is an interview being recorded on camera, information that would allow him to adjust his approach if he felt necessary.
When his pictures are being taken at the end by our Mail Sport photographer, Palmer shows an interest not often seen by players, querying whether one has to be taken so closely, reviewing and giving others his approval, mindful of the final product (his favourite is on the cover).
He is equally aware of what is coming next when the topic of his £42.5m move from Manchester City to Chelsea is discussed. As Palmer’s season has unfolded and the goals have flowed and he’s developed into Chelsea’s talisman and an England international, the question has been asked with increasing regularity: Did Pep Guardiola blunder by allowing Palmer, an academy product who joined the club as an Under-eight, to leave City?
Guardiola does not get many calls of this kind wrong, is the common refrain. But it was definitely an eyebrow-raiser of a decision. So was he surprised to be let go? ‘Yeah,’ Palmer admits after a brief pause for thought as he weighs up his answer and the implications.
‘Initially I didn’t want to leave,’ he explains. ‘I said I would go on loan and play for a year so I was ready for first team football more because I didn’t play a lot of minutes [last season]. But then Pep said “you’re either staying or you’re getting sold” and, so yeah, I just got sold.
‘I was a bit confused why they wouldn’t let me go on loan but [then] I said I wanted to go
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