Ally McCoist has claimed that Pep Guardiola will be secretly shocked by how well one player has done this season since leaving Manchester City.

The previous summer transfer window saw numerous players make moves out of the Manchester club on permanent and temporary deals.

Now though, one pundit has made a claim on how the City boss will be feeling about one particular figure who waved goodbye to the Blues last summer.

McCoist says Guardiola will be surprised by former Man City player this season

Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist had this to say when asked if Guardiola would have expected Cole Palmer to have performed as well as he has for Chelsea this season.

He said: “He will say yes, but I am not so sure.

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“Pep will say yes, ‘I wished him all the best, we always knew what he is capable of’, but I would think what he has achieved, the way he has performed this year, will surprise Pep and certainly a few at City.”

After working his way through City’s youth academy, Palmer made 41 senior appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring six goals and delivering two assists.

Even after the current season started, there was speculation about the winger’s future at the Etihad Stadium, with the only certainty being that the club wouldn’t consider loaning him out.

Will Pep Guardiola be surprised by Cole Palmer’s performances this season?

Towards the end of the summer window, City sold the 21-year-old to Chelsea in a deal worth an overall fee of £42.5m.

Since then, the winger has scored 23 goals and delivered 13 assists in 38 appearances for Mauricio Pochettino’s side across all competitions.

In February, Guardiola said that everyone at City knew the quality Palmer has as well as adding that he is very happy to see the Englishman performing so well for his new side.

On Saturday, the Citizens will be taking on Chelsea for the third time this season, this time in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium.

Given how impressive Palmer has been throughout his debut season at Stamford Bridge, it’s safe to say that he is definitely someone City will need to make sure has a quiet game if they want to make it to another FA Cup final.