Gary Lineker and Micah Richards delivered their verdicts on the ‘very rare’ transfer error Pep Guardiola may have made at Manchester City.
The treble winners crashed out of the Champions League earlier this week. They played Real Madrid off the park but still ended up on the losing side, which is really frustrating,
City’s focus now turns to the FA Cup, where they will take on Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea at Wembley tomorrow evening.
The Londoners haven’t had a great season at all, but you can never rule them out, especially in a semi-final at Wembley, where Manchester City have previously slipped up.
One Chelsea player, in particular, could hurt Manchester City tomorrow, and Guardiola could be to blame if that happens.
Gary Lineker and Micah Richards discuss Pep Guardiola’s decision to sell Cole Palmer
Chelsea signed Cole Palmer from Manchester City last summer for an initial £40 million with a further £2.5 million agreed to be paid in potential add-ons (Sky Sports).
It was a big surprise to see the champions allowing Palmer to leave.
Everybody knew the 21-year-old was an immense talent. He had shown his potential on plenty of occasions in Manchester CIty’s shirt, including in the Community Shield before the start of this season where he scored a stunner against Arsenal.
Chelsea saw that there was a chance Palmer could be sold, and they jumped on that opportunity. That has proved to be their best decision under Todd Boehly.
Palmer has had a stunning season and is now almost guaranteed to make the England squad for the Euros in Germany this summer.
Gary Lineker had his say on Palmer this season and suggested that Pep Guardiola may have made a ‘very rare’ mistake by agreeing to sell him.
“It’s very rare that I think Pep might get something wrong but I think with Cole Palmer, they might have erred,” said Lineker on the Rest is Football podcast.
Micah Richards replied: “It was just one of those where Cole Palmer wanted to play right now, similar to Jadon Sancho before he left to go to Dortmund.
“It’s difficult because when you’ve got Foden who wants to play as a number 10 but then you have got Kevin De Bruyne. Then, Foden gets shifted out to the right, last year you had Mahrez.
“Where can he (Guardiola) fit him (Palmer) in? I just wish he went out on loan and he was ready to come back next season raring to go. Yeah, it’s a bitter one to swallow.”
Cole Palmer shares brutal Pep Guardiola conversation that made him leave Man City
Cole Palmer joined Manchester City at U8s level.
The Englishman came through the ranks at the club’s academy, and people could tell he was a really special talent at a very early age.
Even when Palmer played for City’s first team, his quality was evident for everyone to see, and fans expected him to develop into a superstar at the Etihad.
However, during last summer’s transfer window, Pep Guardiola and Palmer sat down for a conversation about the youngster’s future, and it did not go down well.
Palmer revealed recently that he asked Guardiola to send him out on loan so that he gets regular minutes. The Manchester City boss, however, brutally rejected that request and told him to either stay or be sold.
The 21-year-old chose the latter, and it’s safe to say that his decision has proved to be the right one.
Palmer told the Daily Mail: “Initially I didn’t want to leave.
“I said I would go on loan and play for a year so I was ready for first-team football more because I didn’t play a lot of minutes [last season]. But then, Pep said “you’re either staying or you’re getting sold” and, so yeah, I just got sold.
“I was a bit confused why they wouldn’t let me go on loan but [then] I said I wanted to go to Chelsea and I’m glad it’s turned out the way it has.”
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