Man City: Guardiola did ‘right thing’ in allowing Cole Palmer to join Chelsea

When Chelsea completed a £42.5m deal for Cole Palmer last summer, the deal raised eyebrows and it’s safe to say absolutely nobody saw the rise of the England international coming so soon.

In fact, this time last year, Palmer had never been considered an England international but his 27 goals and 15 assists last season left former England boss Gareth Southgate no choice but to include him in the squad for Euro 2024.

Palmer was the standout in a disappointing season for Chelsea where the Blues finished sixth, spending the majority of the season in mid table.

In the past, Manchester City have never been made to show any regret in losing their young players, with the likes of Jadon Sancho and Brahim Diaz both departing so early on in their careers, though neither have really hit the heights they may have expected themselves to, in contrast to Palmer.

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However, Glen Johnson reckons Chelsea should “only” have one “reservation” following Sancho’s move to Stamford Bridge. 

Although internally, City may admit to missing the spark of Palmer, former goalkeeper David James believes Pep Guardiola did the right thing.

James said: “You can’t say that Guardiola’s decision to sell Cole Palmer was the wrong one, because City won the Premier League last season – they just keep winning trophies.

“If that wasn’t the case and Palmer was the difference between winning the title and losing it, then it becomes a different matter. What I love about Pep, and you can tell that he genuinely means what he says about his former players because he loves football so much, is that he wants Palmer to be successful and have a great career.”

Palmer made 41 appearances for City, though 28 of those came as a substitute in a team including of Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling as options on the wing.

James continued: “Pep wants him to have the opportunity to become an established Premier League star. Palmer blossomed into one of the best players in the league last season, and he did that with Guardiola’s full blessing. That is what he would have wanted to see from his former player.

“I don’t think Pep could give him the assurances that he wanted in terms of his playing time, and he didn’t quite fit into the City set-up, so he was allowed to leave. Pep did the right thing by allowing him to go, because his absence had no impact on City’s ability to win trophies.”

So far this campaign, Palmer has scored once in Chelsea’s thrashing of Wolves at the back end of last month.