This is Enzo Maresca’s first season managing Cole Palmer at Chelsea, but the Italian was well aware of his quality before joining the club in the summer.
Enzo Maresca coached Cole Palmer when he was Manchester City’s U23 boss and then worked with him in the first team after becoming Pep Guardiola’s assistant.
It is no surprise, then, that the 44-year-old is aware of what City think about Palmer, who left the Premier League champions for Chelsea last summer.
Since joining the Blues, the attacking midfielder has become one of the best players in the Premier League. Former Aston Villa defender Zat Knight says he would not want to face Palmer in a match.
Cole Palmer of Manchester City Looks on prior to the UEFA Super Cup 2023 match between Manchester City FC and Sevilla FC at Karaiskakis Stadium on ...
Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca on Cole Palmer and Man City
Maresca was recently asked if he was surprised that City sold Palmer to Chelsea.
In response, the Chelsea head coach shared that the Citizens have always felt that Palmer was a top player but could just not offer him game time because of all of the other attacking options that they have.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Maresca said: “Everyone at City, they knew that Cole was top, no doubt. The problem is that with the amount of players that they have there, it’s more difficult to share minutes with all of them, but no doubt that everyone was aware how good Cole is.”
Chelsea are currently above City in the Premier League table. However, Maresca has warned his Chelsea side not to get complacent following their 3-0 win against Aston Villa last weekend.
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What has Pep Guardiola said about Cole Palmer?
After so many excellent performances for Chelsea last season, Guardiola was questioned for allowing Palmer to leave.
The City manager, though, made it clear that the 22-year-old wanted to depart the Etihad in a quest for more first-team minutes.
“He was asking for two seasons to leave,” Guardiola was quoted as saying by BBC Sport back in April. “I said ‘no, stay’. What could we do?”
To the present day, and Guardiola will be wishing that Palmer was still in his ranks. Other than Erling Haaland, his attacking players have not done too great this season.
Summer signing Savinho, for example, is yet to score a goal in 17 games. He has often played on the right, an area of the pitch where Palmer can also operate.
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