Nedum Onuoha has said that he was disappointed one particular player left Manchester City last summer.
In the previous summer transfer window, after City won the Treble, numerous players made moves in and out of the Manchester club.
In terms of which players left the club, City saw the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte all leave on permanent deals after very successful spells with the Blues.
With the 2023/24 season now close to ending, one pundit and former City player has reflected on what one of the club’s departures from last summer has done since walking away from the Etihad Stadium.
Onuoha says it’s a shame Cole Palmer didn’t succeed at City
Speaking in a recent video shared on the ESPN FC YouTube channel, Onuoha had this to say about Cole Palmer and his move to Chelsea from City last summer.
He said: “As far as Cole goes, it’s good to see him doing well because he is somebody who has come through the academy, one of many that City have brought through there who have got a ton of talent, but I think for him what was missing was opportunity and unfortunately even if he was to have been at City this season, you say, well, would he have played 44 games? Probably not.
“Reason being, well, if he’s going to play high on the right, is he going to play instead of Bernardo Silva, probably not.
“Centrally, he’s going to be ahead of Phil Foden, probably not, [Kevin] De Bruyne, probably not.
“On the left side obviously they have had issues with Jack Grealish’s unavailability and [Jeremy] Doku to a certain extent, but the amount of game time he has had this year has led him to look as good as he has been for Chelsea.
“Unfortunately, Chelsea are a very different club and a different situation to Man City.
“So, it’s a shame that he couldn’t fit into this system at City, but at the end of the day, it’s good to see another academy graduate just tearing the league up.”
Palmer has blossomed since City exit
After starting just seven of the 25 games he appeared in last season, the winger made his move to Chelsea towards the end of the previous summer transfer window in a deal worth £42m.
Since then, the 22-year-old has gone on to score 25 goals and deliver 14 assists in 44 games across all competitions.
With that in mind, it’s understandable why Onuoha thinks it’s a shame that a player of Palmer’s quality couldn’t quite cut it as a regular figure in City’s team.