Chelsea attacking midfielder Cole Palmer has named three former Manchester City teammates in his ‘Ultimate Five-A-Side’ team.
Palmer went with Burnley’s James Trafford in goal, Chelsea’s Thiago Silva and City’s John Stones in defence, with Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland making up the rest of his lineup. Speaking to the EFL about his selection, he was particularly complimentary about the latter two:
“My two forwards are going to be, Kevin De Bruyne, because everyone knows what he can do and Erling Haaland, because yeah, and again, [I] don’t need to explain much about him.”
Palmer left the Etihad for £42.5m in the summer, but he clearly still holds the players he worked alongside in the highest possible regard.
Should City regret letting Palmer go?
The 21-year-old has had a very strong start to his Chelsea career, scoring 8 goals and providing 7 assists in his first 20 appearances for the Blues.
Based on those numbers alone, it would suggest that the Cityzens may have made a mistake in allowing him to leave in the summer.
Guardiola wants a tight-nit first-team squad
Manager Pep Guardiola has made it clear on a number of occasions that he doesn’t want to work with players if they are not completely happy at the club. Joao Cancelo’s departure last January is just one example where he has been prepared to allow top talent to move on.
In Palmer’s case, it is believed that he held talks with Guardiola in the summer, asking for more game time. However, the City boss could not give any guarantees and that consequently led to him being sold to Chelsea.
At the moment, that decision looks like coming back to bite City, but Guardiola is not one to compromise when it comes to squad harmony.
