Cole Palmer has opened up for the first time on Manchester City almost releasing him as a teenager and insists that he did not want to leave the club permanently in 2023.
Senior City academy staff were not going to offer the forward a scholarship, favouring his departure, only for director Jason Wilcox to veto the decision.
Mail Sport revealed the story in 2021 – with Palmer’s financial package and length of contract both significantly less attractive than his peers – and the England international has admitted that height held him back.
‘The coach had a different way of seeing it,’ Palmer said in England’s Lions: A New Generation on Prime Video. ‘Up until that point most coaches would like me. They’d play me no matter how small I was.’
Palmer’s father, Jermaine, admitted Palmer couldn’t deal with the physicality of academy football before a growth spurt that altered his trajectory.
‘Cole had two years – from under 15s to 16s – where he was tiny,’ Jermaine said. ‘He had a new coach who was more about pace and power. They didn’t get on too well and he struggled.
Cole Palmer admits he did not want to leave Manchester City permanently back in 2023
The England international has thrived since making the move to Stamford Bridge
Palmer was nearly released by Man City as a teenager due to concerns over his height
‘The kids were bigger, older. They were smashing him all the time. They measure a bone in your hand, which tells you how big you’re going to be. They said he was going to be five foot nine.
‘And then he nearly got let go by City. Proper brutal. I just thought there is no way he’s going to be five foot nine – he’d be one of the smallest in the family. We’re all about my size and I thought if he was anything like me he’d grow when he gets to 16. And then we’ll know how big he’ll be.’
In conversation with Jermaine, Palmer claimed he didn’t believe he’d grow – and also was firm that the £42million move to Chelsea, ‘the best decision’ of his career, was not something he pushed for.
‘I was so adamant for ages that I wasn’t going,’ he said. ‘I’ve never moved out of Manchester. I really didn’t want to go. (But) you get a bit disheartened at City – why am I not getting a chance to play? You just know when you’re ready to play.
‘I’m thankful. I have no idea what I’d do if I wasn’t a footballer. Actually zero idea. Growing up with around Wythenshawe, everyone does footy or drugs. There are two paths. I just love football so much. You don’t get there with no graft, do you?’
Jermaine added: ‘He thought he’d be at City all his life. He didn’t really want to leave. He wanted to go out on loan because he knew he wasn’t going to play much. But they refused him a loan. So he said he’d have to leave.’
England’s Lions: A New Generation is available exclusively on Prime Video on Saturday 15 March.
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