Many people have suggested Manchester City made a mistake selling Cole Palmer to Chelsea, and now even Pep Guardiola appears to admit to regretting the decision, despite claiming there was little he could do to stop the move.

Palmer, 21, swapped the Etihad Stadium for Stamford Bridge in a £45m deal last summer. At the time, he was a bit-part player at City, and there wasn’t too much expected of him, given Chelsea‘s recent track record of signing talented youngsters who struggled to gel with their team-mates.

The deal also represented good business for City in terms of Profit and Sustainability Rules, with the fee accounting for 100% profit due to the fact Palmer came through City’s academy.

But 20 goals and nine assists in 27 Premier League games, despite Chelsea sitting outside the European places, has somewhat altered perspective on the move.

Speaking before facing Palmer and the Blues in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley this weekend, Guardiola said he wanted the player to stay at City but didn’t play him enough.

“He was asking for two seasons to leave Man City. I said: stay. He wanted to leave. What can we do?!,” he said.

“He’s an exceptional player with super potential… I didn’t give him the minutes he deserves that he now has at Chelsea”.

Cole Palmer tipped for England greatness

There is real intensity in calls for Palmer to be a regular starter for England at this summer’s European Championships in Germany, despite only making his debut in 2023 and making two appearances to date.

He faces competition from former clubmate Phil Foden, who has 21 goals in all competitions this season, for a place in the team, but many believe that is evidence that City were wrong to cast him aside at the start of the season.

Earlier in the campaign, after scoring a late penalty in a stunning 4-4 draw between the teams at Stamford Bridge, Palmer told Sky Sports that he never wanted to leave City on a permanent basis.

“My thing was to never leave City,” he said in January.

“That was not my intention. I wanted to go on loan for a year, come back and be ready for the first team. So then, Chelsea rang me. I said I wanted to go to Chelsea and I’m really happy to be here.

“I’m very glad I made the decision to come here.”

Palmer will surely be out to prove yet another point at Wembley this weekend, with the opportunity to deny City a second trophy in a week after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid on Wednesday.