Cole Palmer says moving from Manchester City to Chelsea is 'paying off' after England call-up

Cole Palmer believes his summer transfer from Manchester City to Chelsea is already "paying off" following his call-up to the England squad.

Having struggled for game time at City, the 21-year-old left his boyhood club to join The Blues for an initial £40 million fee on transfer deadline day.

Chelsea may have made an indifferent start to the season, but Palmer's performances have helped to light up Stamford Bridge having scored four league goals in eight games, including a stoppage-time equaliser against City.

His reward has been a call-up to Gareth Southgate's squad following injuries to James Maddison, Callum Wilson and Lewis Dunk.

Despite celebrating the Treble with City last season and starting this term with a goal in the Community Shield penalty shootout loss to Arsenal, Palmer felt a transfer was required to access first-team football having made just seven starts in the 2022/23 campaign.

"It happened fast, to be fair. I spoke to someone at Chelsea and I was speaking to my dad but I really didn't know what to do," Palmer said of his move.

"I was just thinking about it for a couple of days, near enough every minute of the day. But then I just thought for my career and stuff, I have to go and try and get regular game time.

“It was a big move for me. I’d never been out of Manchester, not even on loan or anything like that, so to move down there on my own was a big thing.

“When I first went down there, it was difficult, like staying in a hotel and stuff, but now I have settled in more and I’m enjoying it.

“Obviously you know how good of a manager Pep is and he gave me the opportunity and the platform to kick-start my career, so I’ll always be grateful to him.

“Who knows what would have happened if I had stayed. Maybe I would have played more, maybe not. But I think the decision that I made to go to Chelsea so far is paying off.”

Palmer gave credit to Mauricio Pochettino for his early-season form, although he wasn't interested in drawing comparisons with his Chelsea boss and Pep Guardiola.

“A lot of people told me how he is with young players,” Palmer said.

“Ever since I went to Chelsea I can see it, so I’m enjoying working with him and excited to carry on working with him.

“He has given me the confidence and licence to go where I want on the pitch, where I feel I can use my strengths, so I’m grateful for it.”

In what was an eventful weekend for Palmer, the young forward revealed that he received notification of his call-up to the England squad immediately after scoring the equaliser against City.

He will now be in contention for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.

“I got the message near enough straightaway after the match,” he said.

“But my phone was going crazy because I have got some City fans that are my mates and family and all that.

“I read it and then like I read it again, so it was confirmed.

“I just rang my dad straight away and he was with my mum, so I told them first.”

With The Three Lions having already qualified for Euro 2024, Southgate will have an opportunity to experiment, and Palmer - who won the U21 Euros with England last summer - believes he can make a big impression.

"I'm going to try to make the biggest impact possible, by creating chances and hopefully scoring," he said.

"I'm new so I will speak to as many people as I can. I will try to get settled quickly. I already know the City boys - Walks [Kyle Walker], Jack [Grealish], Phil [Foden].

"I've played with Rico [Lewis] for ages. After the game [against City], he asked me if I'd got the same message. We were both happy to be going to the first camp together.

"If you have a friend there, it's always a bit nicer. So we're both buzzing."

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