Cole Palmer has been backed to become a Ballon d’Or winner by the two men responsible for taking him from Manchester City to Chelsea.

In an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport, co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley reveal for the first time how they took Palmer to Chelsea from Premier League champions City in a deal worth £42 million.

Palmer is amongst the nominees for this year’s Ballon d’Or and asked if he can one day be crowned the best player in the world, Winstanley says: “No doubt he can, no doubt. He’s got a bit of maverick personality on the pitch, you can see that. You can see it in training, you can see it in the games. He’s got that ability.”

Having scored 25 goals last season and started this campaign with six goals, including four in the first half against Brighton, Palmer is the standout signing of Stewart and Winstanley’s time at Chelsea so far.

His departure could become a cause for regret at City, every bit as big as that felt by Chelsea when they let Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah slip through their fingers.

Stewart admits that Chelsea did not believe City would agree to sell 22-year-old Palmer last summer, saying: “We didn’t think necessarily that we’d be able to get him here really, did we? There was a feeling that ‘no, Cole Palmer won’t be for sale’.

“We’d been speaking about him throughout that window and then as it came towards the latter stage of the window, we felt like we wanted to do something else and do something around that area of the pitch. He came up again and we all said ‘let’s go for it, let’s see what’s possible’. And then there seemed to be a little bit of feedback that there could be something there.”

‘Cole showed great desire to come here’

Winstanley adds: “He’d consistently flagged up on the profile of player that we were looking for in that position, but as we headed through the window, when you check in and you get told ‘no, not for sale, not for sale’.

“We weren’t going to get him on loan and that wouldn’t have suited us, either. We would have always preferred a permanent deal with someone like Cole. Then you enter a period when all of a sudden there’s a sense this might have some legs, let’s push, let’s go. And then once you set off on that journey, you’ve got to try to see it through if there’s a chance. And, to be fair to Cole, he showed great desire to come here and that’s the sort of player we want, the personality and the desire to come here.”

Palmer won the England player of the year award after scoring in the final of the European Championship and has already been voted Premier League player of the month for September this season.

Asked if they could have ever predicted just how good Palmer would be, Winstanley says: “There’s no doubt we knew he had top-level ability. We’ve got some good insight in the building with Sam [Jewell, Chelsea’s director of global recruitment] and with Joe [Shields, Chelsea’s co-director of recruitment, who worked at Manchester City], along with ourselves. And we’ve all been aware of Cole since he was very young.

“The biggest thing we’ve been impressed with is his personality on the pitch and the way he’s grown in stature very quickly. And he’s great around the place, he’s got a lot of supporters around the club day-to-day, so we were under no illusions of his ability and he’s moved forward incredibly quickly, and we’re just delighted for him.”

Palmer already worth over double what Chelsea paid

Stewart adds: “Cole started this season and he didn’t have much of a pre-season, so probably the first couple of weeks were part of his pre-season. And then you see that he’s hit the ground running again. So I think probably that consistency of performance and turning chances into goals and assists. It’s a skill and to do that consistently is high level.”

Palmer signed a new contract to 2033 in the summer and could become one of the club’s best-ever signings if he can maintain his stunning form.

Acknowledging Palmer is already worth well over double what Chelsea paid for him, Stewart says: “I think if he went into the market now his value would be a lot higher, that’s for sure. His output’s been incredible.”

Palmer is not the only signing made by Stewart and Winstanley to have proved to be value for money, with Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto and Nicolas Jackson amongst those whose value has increased over the past 12 months. The pair are also just as proud of the development of another of Chelsea’s England players, Levi Colwill.

“There was a little bit of a question mark about Levi’s future when we arrived and what that might be,” says Stewart. “So, obviously, we’re delighted that he’s here and he’s playing and developing, and I think as long as he continues with the same approach and mentality, which we absolutely expect him to, I think you’ve got another regular England international there.

“So it’s about the players that have come in, but also some of the players that were here and Levi’s a really good example of that.”