According to Pep Guardiola, Cole Palmer was “a star player” while he was at Manchester City, but he wasn’t given enough playing time there before moving to Chelsea.
Palmer joined Chelsea under Mauricio Pochettino’s coaching last summer after leaving City in a move worth £42.5 million ($53.5 million). In his 20 Premier League games, Palmer has scored 10 goals.
On Saturday, the 21-year-old, who made his England debut in November, will make his first visit back to the Etihad.
Guardiola stated prior to the match that he had always known he was meant for greatness.
When asked if he believed Palmer would succeed at Chelsea, Guardiola responded, “If he plays regularly, yes,” at a press conference on Friday. His quality was without any doubt in my mind.
“He’s performing like a top player right now. He was eager to demonstrate his extraordinary abilities, and it was just a matter of time.”
Jack Grealish had a groin injury in the Champions League victory over Copenhagen, and Guardiola has confirmed that he will miss Chelsea’s match.
Although he is doubtful, Bernardo Silva is anticipated to train on Friday. Silva also hobbled off at Parken Stadium on Tuesday.
Guardiola remarked, “All I know is that he [Grealish] is not available tomorrow.”
In today’s training session, Bernardo, we’ll be doing assessments. Sergio Gomez and Mateo Kovacic have returned to training; the others, we shall see.”
After suffering crushing losses to Liverpool and Wolves back-to-back, Chelsea have won their previous two games against Aston Villa and Crystal Palace. City takes on Chelsea after an 11-game winning streak across all competitions.
Chelsea is currently sitting in 10th place in the standings, and Pochettino has had little luck getting any consistency out of the team. However, Guardiola anticipates a challenging evening on Saturday.
He said, “They are an amazing team.”
“This is one of the hardest games left before the season ends. They have been playing excellently lately. Everything is theirs. They have a formidable squad; they are very good.”
