“I made a mistake,” says Gary Neville to Cole Palmer as Chelsea takes advantage of a Man City mistake.
Cole Palmer, a winger for Chelsea who joined from Manchester City in the summer, has been Mauricio Pochettino’s best player thus far this year.
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville (Image: Sky Sports)
Gary Neville, a former captain of Manchester United, is adamant that Pep Guardiola of Manchester City erred in allowing Chelsea to sign Cole Palmer during the summer.
For £42.5 million, the 22-year-old moved to Stamford Bridge at the start of the campaign. Palmer had stated that he was not interested in going on loan away from the Etihad Stadium and that he wanted to play regular first-team football this season.
Palmer was able to join Chelsea because Guardiola upholds his reputation of letting players leave if they so choose. The forward has been determined to prove his abilities since moving to the capital, and he has accomplished this by scoring 26 goals in all competitions and dishing out 14 assists.
Palmer was Neville’s pick for Young Player of the Year in the Monday Night Football end-of-season awards, and Neville acknowledged that the City manager had erred in judgment. “When they signed him, I just thought they have so many wide players, and so many players who are in those positions,” he said.
“I don’t think anyone would have predicted that the goals and output coming from him would have been anything like it has been; they had so much talent.” It truly surprises me so much that he has reached this level. What a teammate.
“The crucial question that you raise is how Manchester City could have ever let that player go. As many talented players as they have, you would assume that they have [Jeremy] Doku, and since Bernardo Silva is not going to play forever, he would be the ideal substitute for Silva in the midfield and as a wide player.”
In order to replace Bernardo, Jamie Carragher said it was admirable that Guardiola let a player go rather than keeping him around for an additional season. Neville retorted that it was a narrow-minded view from the Catalonian perspective. “We have eulogised over Pep Guardiola for years on this programme, you can never criticise him, but you are allowed to say he got one wrong or Manchester City got one wrong,” he said.
“You don’t let one of your own go if they are that good; if a player has been with the team since they were ten years old, you know his talent. Raise your hands and say, “He’s shocked us,” if they’re wrong and don’t think he’s that good. That’s fair enough.
One of two things has gone wrong for them. They have either believed he is not that good or have not given him a chance or made a path for him.”
