Micah Richards admits he is “devastated” that Cole Palmer no longer plays for Manchester City. The youngster came back to haunt Pep Guardiola on Sunday with a man-of-the-match display just two-and-a-half months after he left the Etihad.
Chelsea signed Palmer from City on deadline day in the summer for a fee worth up to £42.5million. His game time had been limited under Guardiola and saw the opportunity to move to Stamford Bridge too good to turn down.
Palmer has had a fine start to life in west London, scoring four goals in his last five Premier League outings. That tally includes three penalties, with the latest coming deep into stoppage time against his old club on Sunday.
The 21-year-old kept his cool to draw a dramatic game level at 4-4. Palmer has since earned his first call-up to the senior England squad after three players pulled out due to injury.
Read more… Man Utd latest injury news including Eriksen, Hojlund, Shaw, Casemiro updates
Palmer spent 13 years at City and made 41 first-team appearances. Richards says he would not have sold him if he were in charge but admits it was difficult to see a way into the City team on a regular basis.
Richards said on The Rest Is Football podcast: “It’s a good question because I would have never sold him, just because I knew what he could do. The thing is with Manchester City, they produce so many good players and obviously, they buy top players too, so you can’t have everyone.
“If you can get £42m for someone that didn’t play that many games… It’s the courage I like. Can you remember a couple of weeks ago when he and (Raheem) Sterling were fighting over a penalty and he was like no, I am taking this.
“To take a penalty in the 95th minute. I am gutted.”
- Support fearless journalism
- Read The Daily Express online, advert free
- Get super-fast page loading
Don’t miss…
Celtic fans boo during the Remembrance Sunday minute’s silence[NEWS]
Man Utd hit with three questions after ‘agreeing’ Mason Greenwood return stance[EXCLUSIVE]
Man Utd may have to tweak Mason Greenwood agreement after ‘attractive offer'[REPORT]
Richards says Palmer has made the right decision for his own career to move to Chelsea. However, he couldn’t hide his disappointment that he would rather still see him in a City shirt.
He added: “I think it was right for him because he is not going to a team that isn’t going to challenge, he has got a great manager and he’s at a club that is going to spend a lot of money. He’s becoming the main man. He was never going to be the main man at Manchester City.
“We have talked so much about (Phil) Foden and if he can become that and it’s taken him a while and he’s dipped in form a little bit – he played well yesterday. But when you have Foden, (Jeremy) Doku, (Jack) Grealish, Bernardo Silva and (Julian) Alvarez, he has to go and play.
“I am gutted and devastated that he is not a Manchester City player, but I am happy he is doing so well.”
Source: Read Full Article