Will Manchester City be back on top of the Premier League next season?
Last time round, Pep Guardiola’s team endured a nightmare campaign, losing 17 times across all competitions, seeing their historic sequence of four successive Premier League titles come to an end.
As they aim to change that, Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Aït-Nouri and Sverre Nypan have all been signed so far this summer, but are the Sky Blues now aiming to make a marquee addition that could restore their position of dominance?
Manchester City seeking a statement signing
Even by the usually astronomical high standards, the Premier League’s biggest clubs have been spending an enormous amount this summer already, and we’re not even into August yet, as the table below documents.
Liverpool
5
£294m
Chelsea
8
£227m
Arsenal
6
£187m
Manchester United
2
£136m
Manchester City
5
£125m
Tottenham Hotspur
6
£124m
Please note: all information is correct at the time of publication
As the table documents, all of the Premier League’s traditional heavyweights have spent big this summer, most notably Liverpool.
The reigning champions have already splurged almost £300m to sign Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké, Miloš Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Giorgi Mamardashvili, but a report by Mark Ogden of ESPN claims they’re willing to spend as much as £165m to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle, with the Swede pushing for the move, which would be quite the statement signing.
In response, reports in Spain claim that Manchester City have ‘made an initial offer’ of £170m to Chelsea in an attempt to re-sign Cole Palmer, adding that he is valued at closer to £250m by the Blues, which would smash the world-transfer record of €222m held by Neymar.
Palmer joined the Citizens’ academy as an eight-year-old, making just 41 appearances for the first team, 28 of which came as a substitute, thereby leaving for Chelsea two summers ago for a reported fee of £42.5m, in search of more opportunities.
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Well, from Man City’s point of view, this has turned out to be one of the great modern-day transfer market mistakes, given Palmer’s form in West London, with former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison asserting back in December that “he is the best player in the Premier League… of that there is no doubt”.
Now though, is Guardiola leading a sensational attempt to bring Palmer back to the Etihad?
How Cole Palmer's return would transform Manchester City
Just before his move to Chelsea, Palmer scored in both the FA Community Shield against Arsenal and the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla but, even so, no one could’ve forecast the impact he would make at Stamford Bridge.
As the table below outlines, few have been more productive in front of goal in the Premier League since he joined Chelsea.
Mohamed Salah
47
28
75
Erling Braut Håland
49
8
57
Cole Palmer
37
19
56
Ollie Watkins
35
21
56
Alexander Isak
44
8
52
Jarrod Bowen
29
14
43
Son Heung-min
24
19
43
Bryan Mbeumo
29
13
42
Bukayo Saka
22
19
41
Matheus Cunha
27
13
40
As documented, only Mohamed Salah and Erling Braut Håland have registered more goals and assists across the last two Premier League campaigns than Palmer, made all the more remarkable by the fact that just three of his goals have come since Boxing Day, emphasising his incredible form beforehand.
Worth also noting that he’s accumulated four more than the aforementioned, in-demand Isak, despite the fact the Swede is a centre-forward. In all, the Englishman has provided 57 goals and assists in 89 Premier League games, only just behind Isak’s return of 63 goal involvements in 86 outings in England’s top-flight.
Palmer was also instrumental as Chelsea won the Club World Cup earlier this month, scoring twice against Paris Saint-Germain in the final, and the Conference League, with Jacob Steinberg of the Guardian describing his second-half performance against Real Betis in Wrocław as ‘astonishing’.
Meantime, Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout asserts that he is a Premier League “legend in the making”, while his manager, Enzo Maresca, described him as a “top player” who is “not normal”.
Selim Ben Hmida of Total Football Analysis outlines how Palmer is at his best when deployed as an ‘advanced playmaker’, given his ability to shoot from distance, create chances and drive into space.
Thus, while Isak is looking likely to be a frightening signing for Liverpool, Palmer would be a transformational acquisition for Man City, should they manage to re-sign him, given that the England international and Håland would surely form an unstoppable duo.
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