After scoring in both the Community Shield and European Super Cup finals, the talented midfielder looked set to play a bigger role for the treble winners this season.
Palmer, desperate for a more concrete guarantee of regular first-team football after the signing of Jeremy Doku, sought clarification from his now-former manager.
Guardiola delivered a surprise ultimatum to the 21-year-old, telling him he could either stay and fight for his place or leave permanently.
I took out a loan and played for a year to get ready for first-team football after not getting many minutes [last season]. But then Pep said, “You’re either staying or getting sold,” and so I just left.
got sold.
‘I was a little perplexed as to why they wouldn’t let me go on loan, but [then] I said I wanted to go to Chelsea, and I’m glad it worked out.’
City’s loss has clearly been Chelsea’s gain, with Palmer putting in a string of outstanding performances that suggest Guardiola made a rare error of judgment.
