Guardiola showers accolades on one Chelsea star ahead Man City clash

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has said he knew Cole Palmer was “a star player” .

However, he couldn’t promise the forward enough playing time at The Etihad, before he left for Chelsea.

Palmer joined the Blues in a £42.5million deal last summer.

Since then, he has scored 10 Premier League goals in 20 appearances.

The 21-year-old will return to the Etihad for the first time on Saturday.

Ahead of the game, Guardiola was asked if he knew Palmer would be a success at Chelsea, he replied: “If he plays regularly, yes. I didn’t have any doubts about his quality.

“The way he’s playing is a star player. He wanted the minutes, it was a question of time to show his immense quality.”