Palmer reveals first-team football was a major factor in his move to Chelsea

Cole Palmer’s decision to leave Manchester City came after the promise of more chances at Chelsea.

The forward, who starred in midfield for England’s Under 21s during Monday’s victory in Luxembourg, made 41 appearances for City – but only three of those were Premier League starts.

Palmer assessed his situation after scoring the crucial equaliser in last month’s Super Cup win against Sevilla and surmised that his game time was not going to improve under Pep Guardiola.

Chelsea had registered tentative interest earlier in the summer and intensified that ahead of deadline day, securing a shock £42.5million move for the 21-year-old.

‘I’m not saying I shied away from the competition (for places at City) because I’ve never done that,’ Palmer said. ‘I’d been there (around the first team) for a few years and wanted more of an opportunity to play - in my position and to have more of an impact.

‘It was a huge decision. When I left the training ground on the Thursday I knew I was going to London the next day. It all just hit me, sat in the car and going to drive out. I was just thinking, “you’ve been here 15 years”.

‘I don’t know any different. I’ve never been on loan. I’ve never moved out of Manchester. The only time I’ve ever been outside of Manchester is on holiday or away games. Going there does feel weird, but there is no time to waste. I’ve got to get to it.’

Raheem Sterling, Levi Colwill and Noni Madueke all lobbied for Palmer to join them at Stamford Bridge. Palmer made his debut last week, coming off the bench in a midfield role as Chelsea chased the game against Nottingham Forest.

It is where Lee Carsley looks set to deploy him in with more regularity as England attempt to defend their European Championship title.

‘I do like playing there,’ Palmer added. ‘There is a lot of extra responsibility and I need to work on parts of my game where I need to improve so I can go to the next level. I’ve not thought about the price. I just want to go enjoy football.

‘Chelsea explained the project, I liked the project. I feel like I can have an impact. I’ve only been there for two days: I trained the Friday and played the Saturday so I don’t know what it’s like yet. I’ll get more of a feel for it.

‘Hopefully I can go back soon to see the guys on City’s academy side, staff are still there who have been with me since I was six years old. To see them would be nice. Then when we play City at Stamford Bridge and the Etihad, I can say byes properly and say thank you.’