Pep Guardiola has disclosed his earnest efforts to retain Cole Palmer at Manchester City before his transfer to Chelsea for a hefty £42.5 million.
The move initially caused a stir due to Palmer’s limited track record, yet he has proven to be a remarkable asset for Chelsea.
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The young English forward, aged 21, has emerged as the most influential player for Chelsea this season, despite the team’s overall underwhelming performance under manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Palmer has delivered an impressive tally of 23 goals and 13 assists in just 38 matches for Chelsea, leading to criticism of Guardiola for letting him go.
Speaking before Manchester City’s FA Cup semi-final clash with Chelsea, Guardiola expressed his deep desire for Palmer to have stayed, indicating a sense of regret over the successful forward’s departure.
‘He was asking for two seasons to leave and I said, ‘No! Stay! Stay!’ – but he said, ‘No – I want to leave’ – what could we do?’ Guardiola said on Friday.
‘I said in pre-season, 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.
‘Playing that level [he is now] is exceptional. He’s an exceptional player. I didn’t give the minutes that maybe he deserved and now he has 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.’
Meanwhile, Guardiola has defended his City players after they crashed out of the UEFA Champions League to Real Madrid.
‘You want to play 120 minutes how we played the last 80?’ he added. ‘Do you know which team we were facing?
‘Did you expect they wouldn’t have the ball or the opportunities to create that? And think we were going to win another Treble?
‘And next season another Treble? And win the Premier League by 20 points? It’s not true. The most unbelievable thing is that we competed as a team until the end.’
