Exclusive: Shaun Wright-Phillips previews Manchester derby
Cole Palmer has been the newest star at Chelsea following his £45million summer move from Manchester City, having scored from the penalty spot in the Blues’ recent games against Arsenal and Burnley while showcasing his talents on the big stage. He was brought in as part of Todd Boehly’s youth revolution and former Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips believes that two key figures helped get the transfer over the line.
Pep Guardiola sanctioned Palmer’s sale despite featuring heavily at the beginning of the season, scoring in both the Community Shield and the UEFA Super Cup. He had been earning a bigger role in the squad but Wright-Phillips has claimed that Palmer wanting to play more regular football combined with Guardiola’s reluctance to stop players from leaving paved the way for the England Under-21 star to end up at Stamford Bridge.
“I don’t think it’s a mistake (City selling Palmer),” Wright-Phillips told Express Sport via Betway. “At Manchester City, Pep is not a manager that makes it difficult for you to leave. If you want to go he understands and respects that it’s football. That’s the impression that I got from the way things have gone over the years.
“Cole Palmer wanted to play more football, at City it’s probably harder because all the players he is coming up against are not only playing well but they are at his age. It’s not like when I came through, I was going up against players who were seven years older than me.
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“It sounds wrong to say but at a point there’s a shelf like isn’t there? So my time is coming quicker as long as I maintain, whereas in football nowadays I have got to be better than that player that people are saying is world-class, or you have got to understand that if you don’t make that jump you are going to be part of the squad rather than that main player.”
Wright-Phillips also pinpointed Jadon Sancho’s City exit in 2017 as a transfer that may have helped Palmer find his way to Chelsea, having watched someone a few years his senior take the plunge and leave the current Premier League champions for Borussia Dortmund where he was made a big part of the team, before moving back to Manchester with rivals United for £73m.
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“You have to force your way in and for whatever reason, Cole Palmer wanted to play more football,” Wright-Phillips explained.
“That was his decision and I don’t think it was the wrong decision, I don’t think it was the right decision it’s what that person wants to do with his football career and he chose to play football and it’s working out fantastically well for him.
“You can go back to say with Jadon Sancho, when he left City when he was young it worked out superbly for him. As footballers, sometimes it’s just a matter of choice and a bit of luck that you join that right team that suits the way you play.”
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