Chelsea CONFIRM £42.5m signing of Cole Palmer from Man City... as the winger signs a SEVEN-YEAR deal to take Todd Boehly's transfer spending to £1BILLION in just over a year

Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Cole Palmer from Manchester City.

The attacking midfielder has joined in a deal worth up to £42.5million and has signed a seven-year deal that includes an additional one-year option.

Chelsea will pay an initial £40m with the remainder of the package for 21 year-old Palmer made up of add-ons.

The deal takes Chelsea's spending since Todd Boehly took over the club last year to £1bn.

'I'm excited to get started and it feels great to sign,' said Palmer. 'I've joined Chelsea because the project here sounds good and because of the platform I will have to try to showcase my talents.

'It is a young and hungry squad and, hopefully, we can do something special here.' 

Palmer has been keen to secure more regular first-team opportunities after seeing his playing time limited at the Etihad and has been told he will be used on the right side of Chelsea's attack and as a number 10.

The Blues intend to deploy him in a similar role to what Phil Foden is used at City in a bid to get the best out of the Palmer given his evident potential. 

City initially valued their academy talent at £50m but Chelsea reached a compromise for Palmer with £40m fee and a further £2.5m due in add-ons accepted by the reigning English champions.

Palmer broke through the City ranks to make his first-team debut three years ago after coming off the bench in a 3-0 Carabao Cup win over Burnley.

Further cup appearances followed before he went on to feature in the Premier League for the first time against Norwich in March last year.

Palmer scored a superb goal in the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal and in City's UEFA Super Cup final victory over Sevilla. 

The youngster follows in the footsteps of Raheem Sterling who called time on his Etihad career in favour of joining Todd Boehly's revolution at Stamford Bridge. 

'Raz has always looked after me, so I appreciate him,' Palmer added.

'He was one when I was coming through at Man City who put his arm around me. That was amazing for me, for someone of his pedigree and international experience to do that.

'He saw the potential I had. He saw what I was doing in training. We started talking a bit more. I was asking him questions all the time and from there we have always kept in contact.

'I've played with him in games a few times, not loads, and now I've developed my game a bit more, hopefully we can do some good stuff together.'

Palmer leaves Guardiola's star-studded side after making 41 appearances senior appearances for City, scoring six goals and registering two assists.