Chris Sutton has said that Pep Guardiola made a big mistake by allowing Cole Palmer to leave Manchester City.
During the previous summer transfer window, the Citizens sold the Englishman to Chelsea in a deal worth over £42m.
With the winger now set to make a return to the Etihad Stadium this weekend when Mauricio Pochettino’s side travel up to take on City for their latest Premier League clash, one pundit has weighed in on the Manchester club’s decision to sell Palmer.
Sutton says Guardiola made a mistake letting Palmer go
Writing in his latest column for BBC Sport where he previewed all of this weekend’s Premier League fixtures, Sutton had this to say about Palmer and his exit from City.
He said: “Cole Palmer is back at Etihad Stadium with Chelsea but it might be asking too much for him to have the same impact against his old club as when they drew 4-4 with Manchester City at Stamford Bridge and he stuck away an injury-time penalty.
“I think Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola made a mistake letting Palmer leave, but this game is only going to end one way – a Chelsea defeat.”
Since joining the west London club, the 21-year-old has scored 12 goals and supplied nine assists in 28 appearances across all competitions.
With 20 Premier League appearances under his belt for Chelsea this season, Palmer has made more key passes (32), shot-creating actions (75) and goal-creating actions (11) than any other player at the club.
His overall league performances have earned the Englishman a season rating of 7.09/10 from WhoScored, making him the highest-rated player in the Chelsea squad.
This makes it easy to see why Sutton thinks City and Guardiola may have made a mistake when they sold the winger in the summer.
However, with the Citizens currently eight places and 18 points ahead of Chelsea in the league table, they will only be focused on themselves and making sure they give Palmer and his teammates nothing to celebrate on Saturday.
