Cole Palmer’s heroics in Chelsea’s 4-3 win against Tottenham Hotspur may have initiated the debate about Manchester City’s decision to sell him once again.
Clinton Morrison claimed Manchester City erred by selling Palmer in the summer of 2023.
Alan Pardew compared Palmer to Kevin De Bruyne in terms of him being the perfect heir to the Belgian international if he stayed at City.
Palmer is only behind Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah and Andy Cole as the fourth-fastest player to reach 50 goal involvements in the Premier League.
The Chelsea midfielder is showing game after game that despite being 22, he has a case to already be viewed as a world-class player.
Palmer has also showcased this season that he is anything but a one-season wonder by emerging as one of Europe’s most in-form players this campaign.
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Micah Richards reveals honest verdict about Man City selling Cole Palmer
In April, Gary Lineker called Manchester City “stupid” for letting the Englishman leave.
Jamie Carragher claimed Pep Guardiola’s mistake was to be open to sanctioning the youngster’s sale as well.
Alan Shearer discussed on The Rest Is Football podcast that he wonders how Manchester City feel witnessing the superstar that Palmer has become.
“He is just unbelievable. I wonder how Man City are looking at him now, and how he is doing. I know they got big money for him but I’m not sure they would have thought he would go on to do the things he is doing. No way.”
Micah Richards replied: “It’s a good question that, Al. At the time, it was perfect for City. He was homegrown, it was £40 million. It’s worth more because of the rules, at the time people were saying it was a fair deal.”
“People were saying £40 million for a player who came off the bench! It looked like a really good deal. But Man City knew about his talent, the only thing I would have said with that is could they have sent him out on loan for a year or two?”
“Could he had improved and then made a decision, especially when they knew they would have to replace a [Riyad] Mahrez. Palmer can play on either wing.”
Enzo Maresca’s view on Palmer’s sale was that Manchester City needed no reminding that he was a “top” prospect.
Man City were keen on Palmer loan before Chelsea sale
Michael Brown revealed Manchester City wished to loan Palmer out during the 2023/2024 season.
“City’s plan was to weave him into the team, give him more minutes, he was possibly going to go out last year on loan. I spoke to somebody at City and they said the plan was, [James] McAtee would come back, he would go and get a year’s football and then I know full well there were several clubs desperate to get Cole Palmer.”
“Chelsea just didn’t go away and they decided to sell him.”
Michael Brown also revealed Palmer was frustrated at Manchester City due to a lack of regular playing time.
It seems unlikely that an elite club of City’s stature will be looking back at their decision as ultimately, not every call they make in the transfer market will be bang on the money.
With Manchester City winning the league in the season they sold him, they perhaps feel their decision was vindicated.
