Pundit Martin Keown has said that Manchester City should not get rid of Cole Palmer this summer.
The 21-year-old and his future has been in question recently after he said in midweek that he wants to play regularly but isn’t sure if that will be at the Manchester club or elsewhere.
This then led to Pep Guardiola admitting that he isn’t sure whether the winger will stay at the Etihad Stadium or make a permanent move to another club before the summer transfer window closes.
Now though, one pundit has weighed in on the situation and made a suggestion about the City manager’s intention in terms of making a noise about the youngster’s future.
Keown drops Palmer claim
Speaking on talkSPORT, Keown had this to say about Palmer and the recent comments about his future from him and Guardiola.
MORE MAN CITY STORIES
He said: “He’s kind of talking the talk and walking the walk at the same time this lad.
“He knows the rules, you have to perform, [Riyad] Mahrez gone, he scored an outstanding goal against Arsenal in the Community Shield and did the same the other night, lovely header for that Super Cup final.
“It’s big talk from both of them, the manager saying you’re going to be sold, but he’s performing on the pitch, so I see no reason why Man City would get rid of him at this point but maybe all of this talk is helping the player, motivating the player to play very well on the field.”
After only scoring one goal in 25 appearances last season, the winger has already doubled his goal tally from last term by scoring two goals in his three games so far in this campaign.
In fact, his latest goal came in the 1-1 draw against Sevilla on Wednesday that ultimately led to City winning the Super Cup in Athens.
With that in mind, it’s easy to see why the pundit thinks the treble winners shouldn’t be looking to move Palmer, who the City manager recently praised for his “extraordinary” performances in the past, out of the club this summer.
Moving forward, if Guardiola picks the winger to start tonight’s Premier League match against Newcastle United and he ends up delivering an impressive performance or potentially adding to his goal record for the season, we feel that they should keep hold of the attacker and keep playing him.