Youth Cup redemption, Sterling help, “Prem soon come”; how Cole Palmer became Man City’s most expensive academy graduate

Cole Palmer is set to join Chelsea, becoming Manchester City’s most expensive academy graduate at £45m.

Cole Palmer’s first notable action on the Manchester City main stage was when he missed the winning penalty in the English League Cup final.

City hosted Liverpool in a tight FA Youth Cup final. 16-year-old Palmer came on as a substitute in the 107th minute, making him one of the more inexperienced U18 players of the year.

As the final went to penalties, Palmer got up but his shot deflected off the crossbar. It was their only penalty shoot-out failure as Liverpool won England’s premier competition, the Youth Cup, leaving City without another win.

Such an experience may have devastated the young player, but it shaped Palmer.Four years later, Palmer scored a hat-trick and is now on course to become the most expensive City Academy graduate in club history.

Palmer is expected to join Chelsea for £45m to gain more playing time after his recent move helped City win the UEFA Super Cup, marking his childhood at the club. If that goal marks the end of Athens’ city career, it’s a fitting final chapter after Liverpool’s penalty nightmare.

City fans will miss Palmer’s departure as they will see him battle the odds at the academy to become one of the hottest prospects in attack. Fans follow Palmer every step of the way, from the ups and downs of his two FA Youth Cup Finals to playing with him and watching him help them win two European titles.

After recently missing a flop in the Youth Cup against Liverpool, Palmer put his head down and shot through the academy ranks. Over the next two years, he scored 33 goals and provided 16 assists in 47 youth games, proving his true worth.

It wasn’t long before he caught the eye of Pep Guardiola and regularly promoted Palmer to the senior team after the season resumed amid the pandemic, meaning homegrown players were among the favorites to be called up to the club’s youth academy.He was voted U18 Player of the Year 2020. Player of the year after a great campaign.

Palmer would atone for his 2019 Youth Cup final miss by scoring twice in the U18 Premier League Cup final win a year later and playing a starring role in the 2020 Youth Cup semi-final, played at the start of the 2020/21 season after the pandemic delayed the competition.

Guardiola had challenged Palmer and other youngsters with first-team appearances to use that experience and win the cup, and in the final, 17 months on from the Liverpool game, Palmer scored the winner against Chelsea.

His goal and assist rewarded one of City’s brightest youth teams with the FA Youth Cup after four final defeats in five years. It was even more poignant for Palmer and the under-18s, after the passing of former teammate Jeremy Wisten a month before. Palmer dedicated his winner to Wisten by lifting his shirt to reveal a tribute to his friend.

Palmer has clearly made an impression by combining a return to youth academy games with first-team training throughout the week.

He showed his confidence with a great curling finish in the first senior games against Wycombe and Club Brugge, while he also performed poorly against professional opponents in the EFL Trophy – love at first sight stands out for Scunthorpe.

Palmer scored spectacular goals in big academic games, such as against Manchester United. Guardiola said there was “absolutely no” chance of the youngster going on loan and that City were the best place for his development.

When Palmer scored a stunning curling goal against United in the U23 derby, Palmer later revealed to MEN Sport that Raheem Sterling had told him he would score that day.

Sterling was a huge influence on Palmer, helping him train and supporting him on social media, and the youngster probably did his best at City when Sterling was there, even if the two were in direct competition.

Palmer showed his desire to improve and play football in his second Premier League appearance against Burnley of 2021 at 3pm at the Etihad Stadium and made himself available for elite development later in the evening en route to the Academy Stadium.

Of course, Palmer scored a hat-trick for the Under-23 side in the Leicester win, showing that playing two games on the same day was his idea. He said: “Playing for the first team at three o’clock and then going to the Academy Stadium and scoring a hat-trick and three more points was a good day.

I saw EDS play at seven and the first pot at three ” I’m doing what I love – I can’t complain.It’s hard to stay focused and energized throughout the day, but other than that I’ve enjoyed it. I’m just trying to entertain, score goals for the fans and do what I do.

Everyone wants to play and when I saw an opportunity to play I thought I might as well come and play and I did.” He scored his first goal after his FA Cup appearance with Swindon in January 2022 a breathtaking solo goal in the European Cup and in the Carabao Cup.

Then the famous “Prem Soon Come” happened. Predictions despite not yet having to score in the Premier League.

After being permanently promoted to the first team last season, Palmer struggled for game-time as City competed across four competitions, winning three. Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez were ahead of him on the right, and he failed to make an impact off the bench or when given chances from the start. It was telling that he only hit form after the Premier League title was won and he started to give others a rest.

It is that long-held desire to play as much as possible that has led to his decision to swap City for Chelsea, citing a lack of game time as a source of his frustrations recently. He is a player who clearly backs his own talent, and will get the chance to do that at Stamford Bridge. City felt they couldn’t turn down an offer of £45m, and with Jeremy Doku arriving they couldn’t offer Palmer any guarantees of the games he wanted.

What Palmer will leave is a legacy of a player who has worked hard, overcome hurdles, and successfully broken into the best team in Europe from the academy. He is a treble-winner, Super Cup winner, and Carabao Cup winner, with 41 appearances for his hometown club. He has six senior winner’s medals, plus a Youth Cup and various other academy titles in his collection.

Even with that record, he had to be reluctantly pushed to the front to raise the Super Cup trophy in front of the City fans after his important goal in that final.

For a time, City fans could rarely see one of their own in the squad. Now they see Foden, Palmer, Rico Lewis, and more academy graduates pushing to join them. Around the Premier League and beyond, Palmer will join the likes of Tommy Doyle, James Trafford, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Shea Charles as local lads raised at City, doing their thing elsewhere.

Palmer’s fee smashes the previous £25m record for an academy graduate leaving City, when Kelechi Iheanacho joined Leicester, and is another feather in the cap of the academy.

Former academy director Jason Wilcox cited Palmer as evidence that there is a genuine pathway to the first team for the next generation of youngsters coming through, while coaches Brian Barry-Murphy and Ben Wilkinson regularly use the likes of Palmer to show that there is substance to their daily messaging to their young players.

Wilcox said: “It’s hugely inspiring. People will say there’s no pathway at Manchester City but I would say it’s a huge challenge for any young player to come through to a Premier League side at 18 or 19, whether you’re at the bottom or the top it’s extremely difficult.

“The kids are getting a lot of opportunity. They train with our first team almost every day, alongside the best manager in the world and best players in the world. With Phil, Cole and Rico, they are seeing it’s within touching distance.”

It’s a matter of time until that Premier League goal does ‘soon come’ for Palmer, and it is a shame that it won’t come at City. Even if there is similar competition in front of him at Stamford Bridge, he has earned the right to decide his future and back his ability. For City to sell an England under-21 international with just three league starts to his name for £45m feels like a good deal for both parties.

It’s up to Palmer to prove City were wrong not to keep him. There will be no surprise inside the City Football Academy if that’s exactly what he does.