Reason Micah Richards disappointed in Man City’s decision to sell Palmer to Chelsea
Micah Richard has admitted he’s gutted that Manchester City agreed to let Cole Palmer join Chelsea after the 21-year-old converted a late penalty to earn his new club a point in their 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Palmer swapped City for Chelsea over the summer in search of more regular football. And the young winger has adapted well to his new environment, bagging four goals and four assists in nine matches since the move.
Man City were set to record their seventh-straight win against Chelsea on Sunday before Palmer stepped up to convert from the spot in the 95th minute after Armando Broja was fouled by Ruben Diaz.
Speaking after the game, Richards said he was sad to see the versatile player doing well for his new club, adding that he wouldn’t have let him go if he was the one making transfer decisions at Man City.
“It’s a good question because I would have never sold him, just because I knew what he could do,” he said on 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.”
Richards added: “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.
“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.”
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