Emmanuel Petit believes Guardiola regrets selling Cole Palmer to Chelsea for £42m, as the player thrives away from City.
City has been known for nurturing young talent, but they’ve let a few slip away recently. Some of those players are doing pretty well elsewhere. For instance, Taylor Harwood-Bellis just scored for England, and Liam Delap is racking up goals for Ipswich Town.
But the big one is definitely Palmer. He was starting to shine with City during their treble-winning season but wanted more game time. Since moving to Chelsea, he’s not just become an England international; he also snagged the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards last season.
Last season, he scored 25 goals and assisted 15 times. This season, he’s already got 13 goals and six assists. With City struggling to find consistent support for Erling Haaland, letting Palmer go is looking worse by the week. Petit believes Guardiola feels the same way.
He mentioned that Guardiola probably realized the mistake after seeing Palmer in action. Even though City has had some wins lately, Petit thinks they’ve learned a lesson about letting their academy stars leave. It’s a tough pill to swallow when you see a former player thriving elsewhere.
