Palmer tried to leave City for two years, insists Guardiola
PEP GUARDIOLA has talked up Cole Palmer for the PFA Player of the Year award — and claimed the forward spent two seasons forcing an exit out of Manchester City.
Palmer faces his former club for the third time in the FA Cup semifinal at Wembley today as Chelsea aim to thwart City’s quest to become the first club to win consecutive domestic Doubles.
The 20 Premier League goals to his name have vindicated Palmer’s decision to make a £42million switch to Stamford Bridge last summer. And the 21-year- old is set to do battle with Phil Foden for individual gongs, as well as Erling Haaland — also on 20 goals — for the Golden Boot.
‘ Cole has been the decisive player, maybe of the season, in many aspects,’ Guardiola said. ‘He was asking for two seasons to leave and I said stay. He said he wanted to leave. What could we do? I said stay because Riyad (Mahrez) is gone but for two seasons he wanted to leave.
‘He’s an exceptional player. I didn’t give him the minutes that maybe he deserved and now he has them at Chelsea. I understand completely.
‘He’s a shy guy with a lot of potential. It is what it is. He’s playing fantastic, so what can I say — the decision has been made for many reasons.’
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was robust in his defence of Guardiola when discussing whether City had made a mistake in selling Palmer.
He said: ‘Manchester City kept winning. It’s the circumstances. Pep had players like (Phil) Foden, (Jack) Grealish and Bernardo Silva. If you are not able to live with that, if you want to play, come on, the club needs to make a decision.
‘I understand completely the situation and he (Palmer) found here a good place for him to play consistently. We are not playing for the things that Manchester City are playing for.’
Pochettino also reminded Palmer that he is not exempt from putting in the hard yards, explaining that luxury players like Eden Hazard no longer exist.
‘It is difficult to say, “Oh, you need to run more” because he’s doing his job perfectly in an offensive situation,’ Pochettino added. ‘But it is true we are a coaching staff that demand more. Football has changed. If you see Real Madrid or Manchester City — with or without the ball, you need to run. If they don’t run, they don’t play. If they don’t make the effort, the team doesn’t win.’
Haaland is a doubt for today’s semi-final after coming off before extra time during City’s defeat by Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday. Guardiola has told his players to respond to that heartache. ‘I prefer to play this than stay at home and think of the next league game,’ he said.
‘Maybe they are the toughest opponents we can face right now, with all respect to Manchester United and Coventry of course.
‘There’s no time, we go there and try to compete at our best. Don’t feel sorry that we’re out, it’s the highest level and these kind of situations happen. Sometimes you lose games.’