‘Gutted’ Richards rues Guardiola transfer call as Man City legend ‘would never have sold’ £42m star

Manchester City legend Micah Richards has admitted that he “would never have sold” Cole Palmer to Premier League rivals Chelsea.

In one of the shock transfers during the recent summer transfer window, Palmer was sold by Man City to Chelsea after he failed to establish himself as a regular under Pep Guardiola at the Etihad.

Palmer produced several outstanding performances at Man City and he appeared to have a big future with his boyhood club but he opted to move on so could be the main man elsewhere.

The Englishman has hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge as he has grabbed four goals and two assists in his nine appearances for the Blues in the Premier League.

Palmer was sensational for Chelsea last weekend as Mauricio Pochettino’s team earned a valuable point from their thrilling 4-4 draw against Man City. 

The midfielder netted a last-gasp equaliser for Chelsea as he found the net via with a penalty. Richards has subsequently admitted that he “would have never sold him” if he was in charge at Man City.

“It’s a good question because I would have never sold him, just because I knew what he could do.” Richards said via The Rest Is Football podcast.

“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.”

FEATURE: Man Utd ‘role model’ among ten stars who made brilliant transfer decisions this summer

Richards is “happy” Palmer is “doing so well” at Chelsea but he is also “gutted and devastated” that he is no longer at Man City.

“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,” Richards added.

“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.”