Pundit Darren Bent has said that he is surprised Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola allowed Cole Palmer to leave the club.
After working his way through the youth ranks at the Manchester club, the winger joined Chelsea during the previous summer transfer window in a deal worth £42.5m.
Now though, one pundit has shared his thoughts on Guardiola’s role, or lack of role, in seeing the 21-year-old swap the Etihad Stadium for Stamford Bridge.
Bent baffled by Palmer exit
Speaking on talkSPORT, Bent had this to say about Guardiola and Palmer’s exit from City.
He said: “Just the coaching they are getting from Pep Guardiola, he is making all of these players better players, which is why I’m surprised he let Cole Palmer go.”
During his time at City, the winger scored six goals and delivered two assists in 41 senior appearances across all competitions.
With six games under his belt for the west London club, Palmer has scored one goal and supplied two assists.
Prior to the Englishman’s move to Chelsea, Guardiola said that he got the impression Palmer wanted to leave City, but the Spaniard did not reveal any intentions to try and keep hold of the winger and convince him to stay at the Manchester club.
Bearing in mind how the Citizens have won numerous trophies over recent years under Guardiola, who, as Bent said, has a reputation of improving players he coaches, it’s hard to see why Palmer would risk missing out on the opportunity to add more silverware to his record and improve his game by leaving City.
Moving forward, if the former City youngster ends up playing regularly but failing to win any trophies this season, he may well end up regretting walking away from his former side.
