Cole Palmer urged to jump at 'incredible and unique experience' with Real Madrid or Barcelona should Spanish giants move for Chelsea talisman

Palmer moved to Stamford Bridge from Manchester City for £40 million ($54m) in 2023. He enjoyed a memorable debut campaign in west London, registering 25 goals and being named PFA Young Player of the Year. His output dipped slightly in 2024-25, finding the target on 18 occasions, but was still able to help the Blues to Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup honours.

Chelsea have moved to tie Palmer down on a contract through to 2033, as they seek to ensure that they are the ones to benefit from his current ability and future potential, but there are no guarantees that said terms will be honoured. Any player in world football would find it difficult to shun interest from the likes of Barca and Real if they were to put a formal bid on the table.

Quizzed on whether he would like to see Palmer embrace a challenge outside of the Premier League, former Chelsea midfielder Gus Poyet - speaking via Casino.org, known for helping Brits find reliable online casinos - told GOAL: "I always encourage the English players to go abroad. One thing that they miss is to see something different. I always said when we played in England, as soon as a foreign player started playing the football you play anywhere else in the world, it’s ‘that one cheats, that one goes down’. Okay, the word cheat probably was right, but we play like that all over the world. I want to say to the English players ‘go to Spain, you wouldn’t last five minutes because they go down every 20 seconds’. You need to learn that game as well and another country. I think it is always a good learning situation.

"It’s individual, though, because the Premier League is the best - that is non-negotiable. I don’t care what anyone says. Spain had a moment when it was close to the Premier League, only because [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo were there. Now, there is no comparison. You are in the best league in the world, so I imagine that for players to go from the best to somewhere else is difficult. I would say if it is a top team, a Real Madrid, then you must. You will have an incredible and unique experience, not only in football but also in life. You will learn from that for the future, forever. I would like to see those quality players go to other places and enjoy that."

Poyet previously told GOAL of Chelsea needing to remain fiercely competitive on multiple fronts in order to match Palmer’s ambition: "Sometimes players go to a club, they perform, show what they can do and become really big. I like him because I didn’t know and when I saw him at Chelsea I went ‘wow’. Now, after two years being there, if he sees he isn’t going to get the Chelsea he thought was coming, maybe he will think about moving on as well.

"It’s an issue. Not for the fans, I know them well and from when the team was just starting to win and a cup was magic for them – an FA Cup, a Carling Cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup, those situations were incredible. Then it was [Jose] Mourinho and [Roman] Abramovich and they wanted to win the league. Then you don’t want to lose that status. Now it is ‘where are we going?’ I understand the Chelsea fans. The most important thing is the top message to the fans, so you know the aim and what is realistic for Chelsea. They should be aiming for the top four, and that’s it."

Chelsea are currently having to cope without Palmer as he is nursing a groin injury. He has sat out the Blues’ last two fixtures - with Enzo Maresca’s side on a run of two wins in six across all competitions - with questions being asked of whether he will be forced to undergo surgery.