Cole Palmer insists he 'never' wanted to leave Man City as Chelsea star reveals he favoured summer loan move to help him break into Pep Guardiola's plans

The England international, who moved to Chelsea from Manchester City for £42 million ($53m) last summer, has claimed that he did not want to leave the Premier League champions permanently and had rather planned to secure a loan move so that he could come back stronger and break into Pep Guardiola's starting lineup.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the Blues star said, "My thing was to never leave City. That was not my intention. I wanted to go on loan for a year, come back and be ready for the first team. But they said I couldn't go on loan, either stay or you get sold. So then, Chelsea rang me. I said I wanted to go to Chelsea and I'm really happy to be here. I'm very glad I made the decision to come here."

Since his move to the London club, Palmer has appeared in 16 out of the Blues' 17 Premier League matches where he has scored eight times and provided four assists. His impressive performance for Pochettino's side had even earned him his maiden national team call-up in November when Gareth Southgate named him in the Three Lions squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers.

After contributing with an assist in his team's 4-0 win over Preston North End in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, the 21-year-old will be next seen in action on Tuesday as Pochettino's side take on Middlesbrough in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie.