Alan Shearer isn’t buying Pep Guardiola’s repeated claim that he knew Cole Palmer was a star in the making....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤
Manchester City allowed their homegrown forward, who was desperate for regular first-team football, to join Chelsea in a £40million-plus deal at the end of the 2023 summer transfer window. City’s loss has certainly been the Blues’ gain, with Palmer now worth several times that sum thanks to his wonderful form under Mauricio Pochettino and now Enzo Maresca.
Guardiola always maintained that he rated Palmer highly, despite not playing him regularly. Speaking earlier this year, he claimed: “If he plays regularly, yes. I didn’t have any doubts about his quality.
“The way he’s playing is a star player. He wanted the minutes, it was a question of time to show his immense quality.”
However, Shearer doesn’t believe City truly realised the talent they had in their possession. Speaking after Palmer’s brace of penalties in the 4-3 win at Tottenham, the Newcastle legend told Gary Lineker on the The Rest is Football podcast: “I wonder how Man City are looking at him now and their decision [to let him leave]…
“I know they got big money for him but I’m not sure they thought he would go to do the things he’s doing, no way.”
Lineker then pointed out: “Well, they got big money but nothing like what he’d be worth now.” And ex-Man City defender Micah Richards then weighed in: “At the time, it was perfect for City. He was homegrown, they got 40million quid, it’s worth more because of [FFP] rules.
“Everyone was saying it was a fair deal. ‘40million for a player who comes off the bench’. So it looked like a really good deal. Man City knew about his talent but I would have sent him out on loan for another year [rather than sell him].”
Speaking after Sunday’s thrilling derby win, Maresca again hailed Palmer’s quality, saying: “I know Cole from time ago, I really trust him in every aspect.
“First of all, he’s a fantastic boy, a fantastic guy and then, as I’ve said already many times, he has to learn. He is learning how to play the game when they mark him man-to-man. He is learning, he is improving, he is scoring goals, he is happy and we are all happy.” ...CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤
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