‘Cole Palmer had to escape Pep Guardiola at Man City’: Huge Jack Grealish claim
Cole Palmer had to leave for Chelsea as Man City coach Pep Guardiola wouldn’t let him “flourish” if he were still there, according to Darren Bent.
Chelsea have had an incredible start to the season, and Cole Palmer is at the heart of everything again. His brace against rivals Tottenham saw widespread praise from former and current players alike.
However, there has been a continued debate since making his move from Man City for £42.5milliion [BBC Sport], how he would’ve fared in their team, especially with former superstars now stumbling.
Darren Bent and Andy Goldstein raved with guest Emmanuel Petit on talkSPORT about the Stamford Bridge talisman. Bent claimed that we wouldn’t have seen “the same Cole Palmer” if he stayed due to Guardiola’s tactics.
He said: “Some Manchester City fans were saying ‘If we had whole Palmer still, we’d be better’ but I don’t think you’d have seen the same Cole Palmer. I think Pep wouldn’t allow him to flourish like he is at Chelsea”.
He added, “Pep would not have built the team around Cole Palmer”.
Goldstein then summed it up that the Catalan would have “taken the [Jack] Grealish out of him”, referring to some claims that the ex-Aston Villa star’s playing style has been constrained since he moved to the Etihad. His performances in recent months have even seen fans criticise him.
Cole Palmer has become elite since Man City exit to Cherlsea
When asked on talkSPORT who he thought was England’s best player, Petit named Palmer ahead of the likes of Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The attacking midfielder proved that with a brilliant playmaking display as Enzo Maresca’s side came back from 2-0 down to beat Spurs 4-3 in North London. He made four key passes, completed four successful dribbles, had three accurate crosses, and won the penalty [Sofascore].
His ‘Panenka’ penalty, which made it 4-2 on the night, was the epitome of class. He even took to social media to celebrate the moment.
Palmer has now tallied 11 goals and six assists in 15 Premier League appearances this season, continuing to prove he is one of the best players in the division.
The City academy graduate has now accumulated an outstanding 50 goals and assists in just 48 games and hasn’t looked back since swapping the then-treble winners for a struggling Chelsea side.
We will never know what his progress would look like at this stage if he had stayed but the Grealish example suggests he likely would have been very effective, but potentially not in the same eye-catching way.
In other news, Joao Felix has responded to a Chelsea teammate with six-word reaction after their mistake.
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