Chelsea to reward Cole Palmer with incremental wage rises as they try to keep him for a decade

Chelsea will reward Cole Palmer for his superb form and are confident the England international will stay at the club for the next 10 years.

Palmer enjoyed an incredible first season at Chelsea, scoring 25 goals, and maintained that form for England at the European Championship, scoring in the final and providing an assist in the semi-final.

The 22-year-old signed a seven-year contract with the option of a further 12 months worth around £80,000 per week when he moved from Manchester City last summer.

That meant Palmer was at the lower end of Chelsea’s wage scale on a salary not much more than a quarter of what Raheem Sterling earns at the club .

Chelsea are mindful of this and will reward Palmer with incremental wage rises to better reflect his importance and performances, although the expectation is that these will remain private.

Rather than announcing a new deal for him, Chelsea are more likely to privately adjust the salary in Palmer’s contract.

A source told Telegraph Sport: “Chelsea expect Cole to be at the club for the next 10 years. So of course they will look after him and make sure his wages reflect his performances.

“There is no need to do that publicly or with grand announcements. The club will work with Cole and his representatives, rather than doing their business in public.”

Chelsea are optimistic that Palmer can maintain and even improve his form of last season under new head coach Enzo Maresca.

Palmer is not be among the group of players due to fly to America on Monday for Chelsea’s pre-season tour. The attacking midfielder is not due to report for training until next month.

Conor Gallagher also has time off after international duty with England in Germany and his Chelsea future remains unresolved.

Atletico Madrid have held more talks about the player in recent days and have so far shown greater interest than Tottenham Hotspur.

But the Spaniards are yet to make a bid for Gallagher and there is scepticism over whether they could get close to Chelsea’s £50 million valuation.

Sources believe the likelihood of Atletico being able to come up with a financial package to tempt Chelsea and Gallagher is slim.

Tottenham remain interested in Gallagher, but are yet to make a move for him, while Aston Villa have turned their attention to another of their top targets, Amadou Onana, after accepting the Chelsea academy graduate was unlikely to join them.

Chelsea want to sign a striker and a right-footed winger, but are willing to see how the market reacts to moves  being made by clubs.