Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that Cole Palmer had been asking to leave the club for two years before joining Chelsea.
Palmer is enjoying a wonderful breakout season with the Blues, as his hat-trick against Everton on Monday took him to 20 goals in the Premier League, level with former teammate Erling Haaland.
Read: Palmer Nets Four As Chelsea Hit Everton For Six
The English forward and Haaland will go head-to-head in the FA Cup semi-final on Wednesday evening and Guardiola had nothing but praise for the former City player.
"He's an exceptional player," Guardiola told a news conference, as per ESPN.
"I said many times, I didn't give the minutes that maybe he deserved and now he has at Chelsea. I understand completely.
"He's a shy guy with a lot of potential. It is what it is. He's playing fantastic so what can I say? The decision has been made for many reasons.
"He was asking for two seasons to leave and I said stay. He said he wanted to leave.
"What could we do? I said stay because Riyad [Mahrez] is gone, but for two seasons he wanted to leave."
Kevin de Bruyne is expected to return on Saturday, but there is doubt over Haaland who came off against Real Madrid on Wednesday.
"Kevin feels well. With Erling, we will see. It was a tough game, 120 minutes. A lot of action, high intensity from both sides," he added.
"Erling felt something, a muscular issue, and that's why he said he could not continue. Kevin felt exhausted and after what happened with an injury for five months, that is normal."
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