'You play for Chelsea!' - Cole Palmer told he must turn down Real Madrid if La Liga giants make transfer move as he's only had 'two-year career' & should 'slow down'

Palmer has enjoyed a remarkable rise to prominence since leaving Manchester City for west London in 2023. He boasted Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League winners’ medals from his time at the Etihad Stadium, but was never a regular under Pep Guardiola.

His debut campaign at Chelsea delivered 25 goals, a senior Three Lions debut and PFA Young Player of the Year honours. His stock soared, with Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup successes being savoured in 2025.

His output did, however, dip last season and injury struggles have been endured in 2025-26. With that in mind, Leboeuf - speaking in association with ToonieBet - told GOAL when asked if Palmer is destined for another high-profile transfer at some point: “If you are Cole Palmer, do you want to play for Real Madrid? Where are you going to play? You have Jude Bellingham, so many others. You have to make the right choice. You have to think twice.

“Okay, I want to be at the best club in the world - maybe Real Madrid are the best club in the world - but you want to play, you don’t want to be on the bench. That doesn’t make any sense.

“We talked about [Florian] Wirtz going to Bayern Munich last season, but there was [Jamal] Musiala there - you can’t play with Musiala and Wirtz, unless you put Wirtz on the left, which is possible, but it was the right choice for Wirtz to go to Liverpool. Nobody expected it would go how it is right now.

“Cole Palmer has had a two-year career. City didn’t want to keep him, he was a real surprise, fantastic player, but slow down, you play for Chelsea Football Club and you can get something out of it. You never know, maybe you are at the right club. Maybe something will happen to Chelsea.

“Who would have thought that [Frank] Lampard would have the career he did when he came to Chelsea? Maybe a bit, but not that crazy. I remember being at Chelsea in ‘99 when Real Madrid called me and I said: ‘I’m staying there, I love the club, they are great, the football is great, the fans are great, so why would I go there? I know what I have and what I would get’. Again, you have to think twice.

“For the fame, maybe it is better to go to Real Madrid when you are at Chelsea, but I’m not even sure about that anymore. What we see at Real Madrid, they are not the best of the best right now. Maybe they are going to come back because it’s a big club, but it’s not right now - you are talking about history, not the present time.”

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Chelsea have invested heavily in building a squad that can be competitive in the present and future. More creative talent has been drafted in alongside Palmer, including exciting Brazilian forward Estevao Willian.

Asked how far the South American teenager can go, with a ‘Messinho’ (Little Messi) nickname already bestowed upon him, Leboeuf said: “I wish him the best. He seems to have a good head on top of the skills. Chelsea seem to be protecting him as well. He is young and you don’t want to launch him, I don’t think he is ready for that.

“To have a very important position and future at the club, he is going there. We can see it. Unless he is unlucky, has a bad injury, I don’t see why that guy cannot be one of the top Brazilians that we have seen throughout the generations.

“He is a low-profile kind of guy, but loves showing off when he scores a goal. He wants to take on players. I love the guy, but he is still raw. We have to be patient and make sure that he matures the way he needs to, to become one of the top players in the world.”

With Palmer and Estevao on board, Chelsea - who are back in the top-four hunt this season - will believe that they are capable of winning more major honours at home and abroad. Tangible success should help to ensure that no heads are turned, with collective and individual ambition being matched by a team that has never been afraid to throw money at solving a problem.