Chelsea’s player of the season wouldn’t get in Man City team, says pundit

Chelsea star Cole Palmer has shown he still wouldn’t quite be good enough to get into the Manchester City starting XI on a regular basis, according to pundit Garth Crooks.

The exciting young English playmaker has had a superb first season at Stamford Bridge, taking the Premier League by storm since his move from Man City to Chelsea last summer.

Palmer hadn’t managed to get much playing time at City, and it now looks like it might’ve been a major error of judgement by Pep Guardiola to let the 21-year-old go.

Palmer has a superb 23 goals in all competitions for Chelsea, and one imagines he surely could’ve at least had a role as a squad player at City, who just ended up strengthening a rival instead.

Still, it seems Crooks, writing in his BBC Sport column, isn’t convinced Palmer would still have what it takes to play regularly at the Etihad Stadium, where there is so much competition in the attacking midfield department.

Palmer – would he play regularly for City?

“What was also conspicuous, in a week where so much has been written about Cole Palmer and his willingness to leave Manchester City to develop his career, is it was clear both parties made the best decision,” Crooks said.

“This was the kind of game to really assess Palmer’s progress and, while meteoric, it is still not good enough to merit a regular spot in a Manchester City side. Not with De Bruyne around.”

We’re not sure Chelsea fans will be too bothered about this issue either way, as the main thing now is that Palmer is their player and undoubtedly one of the signings of the season, who will surely only continue to improve in the years to come.

City may have plenty of other top talents of their own, but Chelsea have clearly benefited from bringing Palmer into their otherwise slightly underwhelming squad.