‘Why Guardiola allowed Cole Palmer to join Chelsea’

Chelsea winger Cole Palmer was allowed to leave Manchester City this summer because he is ‘deficient’ in certain areas, according to pundit Chris Sutton.

Palmer was a surprise departure from the Etihad Stadium in the transfer window after it had seemed as though the 21-year-old was being readied for a starting role at City in the future. However, a bid of £40m was accepted by Pep Guardiola and some critics have suggested he may regret the decision.

The forward has been one of Mauricio Pochettino’s better performers this season having scored four goals in ten appearances for the Stamford Bridge club. Palmer added to his tally on Saturday night and was named Man of the Match by Gary Neville on Sky Sports.

While some are scratching their heads over his exit still, Sutton feels he has an explanation for Guardiola’s decision. The former Blackburn Rovers man told the podcast It’s all Kicking Off: “From what I’ve seen of him or what I saw of him at Manchester City, I get what you’re saying [about his quality].

“But then you’re sort of questioning Pep’s decision-making there? He must be deficient at something in Pep’s mind, whether its fitting into the Pep Guardiola style of play, whatever it is. But on the face of things, I do understand what you’re saying.

“He’s got to be good enough and while he is a talented player, how can we sit here in this moment in time and question Pep Guardiola?

“Champions League winner last season, they’ve won the Premier League for the last three seasons, whatever it is and he doesn’t get a lot of wrong. So maybe, should we wait a bit longer before we cast judgement [on Palmer leaving]?”