THERE is one common reason linking the facts that Chelsea are in the title race and  Manchester City are not. Cole Palmer.

City are an ageing squad in desperate need of a world-class youngster to give them freshness and spark.

That player should have been Cole Palmer.

Chelsea were a chaotic club in desperate need of an on-field leader to build a team around.

That player is Cole Palmer.

Pep Guardiola’s decision to allow Palmer to join Chelsea looked highly questionable even last season, when City were winning a fourth straight title and the young  Mancunian he released was the stand-out player in a wildly inconsistent Blues team.

Now that Palmer is the stand-out player in an excellent Chelsea side, and now that City have suddenly imploded — winning just once in nine games — that chicken is well and truly roosting.

And yes, yes, the Rodri injury. But City’s extraordinary collapse is not all about the absence of their Ballon d’Or-winning midfield anchor.

Etihad chiefs are this week  trumpeting the tenth anniversary of their City Football Academy, which has “developed 40 players for the men’s senior team and generated fees of up to £300million”.

City boast that “seven Premier League clubs and 12 Championship sides currently have a player from the CFA”.

Which is all well and good, except that Palmer — one of two world-class players to come through the CFA, along with Phil Foden — is currently tearing it up for a team higher in the table than City.

And for an initial fee of £40m, which now looks an absolute steal.

These mistakes happen in football. It’s just that they usually happen to Chelsea and certainly not to Guardiola.

Look around at Chelsea’s main rivals and you’ll find Kevin De Bruyne, flogged by Chelsea aged 22, who has been Manchester City’s best player for years.

And you’ll find Mo Salah, shipped out by Chelsea aged 23, who has been Liverpool’s best player for years.

You’ll also find Declan Rice, rejected by Chelsea aged 14, who  is now the £105million midfield heartbeat of Arsenal.

When Jose Mourinho was Chelsea boss he didn’t think De Bruyne or Salah were useless. Just not good enough for his first team at that point and certainly not future  Footballers of the Year.

It’s the same with City and Palmer — who got my vote as Footballer of the Year above City’s Foden, who won the award because most voters seemed to think it was more impressive to be a great player in a great team than be a great player in a bad team.

Guardiola rated Palmer so highly that, while other promising City youngsters were loaned out, he was jealously guarded by the Etihad boss, drip-fed first-team football and asked to remain patient at City, just as Foden was.

Yet by the summer of last year, Palmer was 21 and ready to be a major Premier League footballer.

Guardiola had promised him substantially more football and all looked well last August when Palmer netted a stunning goal at Wembley in the Community Shield against Arsenal and scored again in the European Super Cup against Sevilla. — Sun.