£300million, a promise they won’t rob anymore houses, admittance that Lampard is better than Gerrard, and the entire city to undergo speech therapy, and you got a deal .
August 2023 and Chelsea were choosing between Doku, Cherki and Barcola as their next young attacking signing.
Then City hijacked Doku on August 24th, moving quickly and getting the deal done.
Chelsea continued negotiations in France until August 30th, when they discovered Cole Palmer wanted out of Manchester City due to limited playing time.
Boehly and the sporting directors immediately abandoned everything and flew to Manchester.
Fabrizio broke it that evening:
“Chelsea have made a move for Cole Palmer.”
Minutes later:
HERE WE GO!
Palmer to Chelsea for £40m + £5m add-ons.
At the time, even I didn't understand the move. “Who is Palmer?” was basically the reaction everywhere.
Three years later, it's arguably the best signing of the new ownership.
Swift. Unexpected. Brilliant.
August 31st, 2023 — Cole Palmer became a Blue.
What a decision. 💙🥶
🚨🗣️BREAKING NEWS:✅ Frank Ribery says after they got the Penalty in the extra time after Drogba fouled him, Peter was CALMER THAN NORMAL and says that the 2012 UCL lost Ruined him Until they won the 2013 UCL
"When we got the penalty in extra time after Drogba fouled me, I remember looking at Petr Čech and something felt strange immediately. He was calmer than normal. Too calm. In a moment that big, most goalkeepers show nerves somehow, but he looked completely at peace."
"That honestly made me uncomfortable before the penalty was even taken. It was like he already saw the ending before the rest of us did."
"The 2012 final damaged me mentally for a long time. People outside football think you just move on after losing a match, but some games stay inside you for years."
"We played the final in Munich, in our own stadium, and everything felt written perfectly for Bayern. That’s what made the pain even worse."
"After the match, I kept replaying moments in my head constantly — Drogba’s header, the penalty, the shootout, all of it. You start asking yourself questions you can never fully answer."
"For a while, that defeat followed us everywhere. Every Champions League game after that felt heavier because the memories were still there."
"Only winning the Champions League in 2013 finally healed some of that pain. Without that victory, I think 2012 would have haunted many of us forever.#CFC
Sometimes football gives you scars first before it gives you redemption