Pep Guardiola has explained his decision to keep Cole Palmer in the Manchester City squad this season but allow James McAtee to go out loan.
City face Sheffield United at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, with the Yorkshire side unable to call upon two of their key players.
City youngsters James McAtee and Tommy Doyle have spent the season on loan at Bramall Lane, and under FA rules cannot face their parent club.
Doyle has gone out on various loan spells in recent years, but this season has been McAtee’s first away from City.
After enduring a tough start in Sheffield, the 20-year-old has shown everyone why he is so highly rated by City, scoring eight goals and providing three assists in 33 Championship outings.
Guardiola was reluctant to allow the England youth international to leave City on loan – the player was keen to go – preferring to keep him in the first-team squad as he did with Phil Foden and Cole Palmer in recent years.
Palmer looked set for a break-out year in sky blue after impressing in cameos last season, but he has been restricted to just over 600 minutes of senior game time.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s semi-final, Guardiola explained why City decided to keep Palmer at the club instead of McAtee.
“Cole [Palmer] had more time with us before Macca [McAtee] came up. Cole is more of a winger, and can play in attacking midfield as well,” Guardiola said.
“Unfortunately, the moment he was incredibly brilliant, a long injury, and he came back to players playing good and Jack [Grealish] made an incredible step forward.
“Maybe he didn’t have the minutes we expected, he expected or I expected to give to him but there are still important matches and every moment he is going to play will be so important.
“In this type of period, the last 10, 15, 20 minutes, have the same importance as the previous 75. So we have to be ready to play every single minute, selected from the beginning or coming from the bench.”
