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Chelsea have a young squad with plenty of potential, but are they in a position to win trophies in the short term to keep their star players happy? Former defender William Gallas thinks maybe not. ..
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Chelsea star Cole Palmer has been linked with a shock exit away from Stamford Bridge - by none other than former Blues centre-back William Gallas. The Frenchman is no stranger to having a bit of a strop when he feels things aren't going his way, and he seemingly expects other players will adopt the same mentality. Gallas had a rather unhappy exit from Chelsea in 2006, joining Arsenal as part of the deal that took Ashley Cole the other way. Chelsea claimed that Gallas had threatened to deliberately score own goals if he wasn't permitted to leave, which he later denied as false accusations. The centre-back then staged something of a sit-in in the Birmingham half during a 2-2 draw at St Andrew's in 2008, and later that year publicly criticised his teammates in the media. Gallas left for Tottenham in 2010. In any case, Gallas anticipates that if Chelsea are unable to fulfil the potential their expensively-assembled squad of youngsters now contains, they may be at risk of losing key players like Cole Palmer. Gallas feels that players of that calibre will not be content to sit by and see their peers collecting medals while their own cabinets remain bare, and that it would only be a matter of time before they look for the exit. Speaking to Prime Casino, Gallas said: "Cole Palmer might want to leave Chelsea in the future if they don’t show they can win trophies, but where would he go? "Barcelona would be a great move for him, but they have great young players already like Lamine Yamal and might also be signing Nico Williams. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. "Palmer looks like he is going to have a very similar season to last year and even though he is young, it will be tough to see his friends winning trophies if he isn’t at Chelsea despite the way he is playing. "I won’t be surprised if he wants to speak to Chelsea in the summer if they again fail to win a trophy. He will want to know clearly what their targets are. " VIDEO: How Guardiola Has Invented A New Position For Rico Lewis Like many of his teammates, Palmer is tied down to an exceptionally lengthy contract at Stamford Bridge, with his current deal not set to run out until 2033. But we expect Gallas is right at that at some unspecified point in the future, an unspecified club may want to sign a very good player if he wants to leave the club. Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, We Are Terriers. com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023. Liverpool given huge boost over Trent Alexander-Arnold future after Real Madrid transfer target emerges: report Liverpool to replace fan-favourite with controversial new signing: report Paul Gascoigne proposes wild five-way job swap involving England, Manchester United, Gary Lineker and Pep Guardiola Four Four Two is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. ©
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