English club Chelsea have spent more than a billion pounds on transfers since the arrival of owner Todd Boehly in May 2022, after signing England winger Cole Palmer (21) from Manchester City on Friday.
The English international and hopeful, barred by competition from the Cityzens, has signed up with Chelsea for seven seasons and another as an option, the London club announced on Friday.
The amount of the transfer would be 40 million pounds, with 2.5 possible bonuses, which could inflate the check to almost 50 million euros, according to English media.
With Palmer, Chelsea thus exceeds the bar of 500 million euros spent this summer.
The Blues, by far the biggest spenders in Europe, have invested more than a billion pounds in three transfer windows since the arrival of American owner Todd Boehly in May 2022. Around 30 players have been bought in the meantime.
“Chelsea spends money, but also sells players,” coach Mauricio Pochettino tried to put the press into perspective on Friday.
“Twenty years ago, if we had said this would happen, maybe no one would have believed us. Today, I think it’s normal to have this type of amount at stake. It’s a big business and we can’t do anything about it, ”explained the Argentinian.
The former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain manager believes that “everyone benefits from it. We live in what this business produces.”
Regarding Palmer, he praised the merits of a “talented young player”, with “great potential” and who “corresponds to the project”.
“I joined Chelsea because I like the project and for the opportunity I will have to try to show my talent. They are a young and hungry team and I hope we can do special things here,” the player said in a statement from his new club.
Used as a right winger, Palmer took advantage of Riyad Mahrez’s departure to Saudi Arabia to gain playing time at the start of the season with Manchester City. He scored against Arsenal in the Community Shield (1-1, loss on penalties) and against Sevilla FC in the European Supercup (1-1, victory on penalties). But Pep Guardiola has used it very little in the league.
The recruitment of Belgian winger Jérémy Doku from Rennes has taken him further away from Manchester City, where competition is fierce for this position with Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden.
Trained at the Citizens, Palmer won the European Championship with the England Espoirs team last summer.
2023-09-01 20:36:38
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