“Will be decided this week” – Fabrizio Romano says Man City now open to selling “fantastic” star

Manchester City are ‘open’ to letting Etihad Stadium talent Cole Palmer join West Ham United, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

Cole Palmer has been linked with a move to Premier League rivals West Ham United ahead of the transfer deadline.

Palmer could be added as bait in a switch that would see the player move, as well as some cash. The Hammers have a valuation of around £85m for the Brazilian, and would not part with their playmaker so easily unless there is a sweetener in the deal.

City boss Pep Guardiola after Super Cup win, admits the future of the England U21 international is uncertain, but stressed he would like the player to stay, “I don’t know. I don’t think a loan is going to happen. He’s going to stay, or he’s going to be sold.”

The Guardian report that West Ham are attempting to soften the blow of potentially seeing Lucas Paqueta join Manchester City by recruiting Palmer from the reigning Premier League champions.

The report suggests the Hammers initially asked the Citizens about the possibility of a loan deal, but they have a better chance of negotiating a switch which would see the winger, who has made 41 appearances since coming through the ranks, head to east London permanently.

What has Fabrizio Romano said about Palmer?

Romano understands that Manchester City are willing to sell Palmer to Premier League rivals West Ham, but only if the deal includes buyback and sell-on clauses.

The Italian journalist believes the coming days are critical for the England under-21 international, who has been described as ‘fantastic’ by Guardiola, as the Citizens could continue negotiating with the capital club over Paqueta.

“Manchester City are open to letting Cole Palmer go to West Ham. But, as always for their talents, they want a buyback clause and a sell-on clause, so it’s not that easy to structure the deal,” Fabrizio Romano told GIVEMESPORT.

“I think it will be decided this week because it will become clear if Manchester City go for Paqueta and close the deal or they will move onto different targets as, with West Ham, it is not going to be an easy negotiation.”

Palmer has made an eye-catching start to the new campaign, finding the back of the net twice in just 121 minutes of action and claiming the all-important equaliser against Sevilla in the Super Cup final earlier this week.