Cole Palmer was awarded a rare contract in the Premier League history. But only 5 months later, this figure was broken by the former teammate at Man City: Erling Haaland.
After the historic “treble” with Man City in 2023, Palmer suddenly joined Chelsea for £ 40 million. This is a surprise deal for many people, including former player Gary Neville.
However, Palmer quickly became the number one star at Chelsea. In the first season, he scored 22 goals and had 11 assists in the Premier League, winning the title of the best young player of the year of PFA. He also shines in England shirt at Euro 2024.
Despite signing a 7 -year contract with an additional 1 -year extension option, Palmer's brilliant performance made Chelsea decide to extend 2 years, extending the contract term to 2033, and significantly increased wages for the 22 -year -old midfielder.
This is the longest contract in the history of the Premier League up to that time – a breakthrough step of Chelsea under Todd Boehly. However, Palmer's record only exists less than half a year.
In January 2025, Haaland signed a new 10 -year contract with Man City, took effect until the summer of 2034, when the Norwegian striker turned 34. The old Haaland contract was limited to 2027 after he signed 5 years at the time of joining Dortmund.
This record contract is considered a strong statement of Man City in the context of the club facing 115 allegations of violating financial regulations from the Premier League, and many believe this is how the Green Man consolidates the stable image before the ruling.
Although in other sports and in other tournaments, long -term contracts are not too strange, in the Premier League, this approach of Chelsea is rare.
In addition to Palmer, these long -term contracts are also applied by Chelsea to Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Nicolas Jackson. This is part of the purpose of circumventing the financial law.
According to the regulations, the transfer fee is “depreciated” according to the number of years of contracts, so the longer the contract is, the lower the annual depreciation cost, making it easier for the club to meet the financial regulations of the tournament.