Pep Guardiola's reaction to Cole Palmer and Jadon Sancho's Manchester City exits say a lot about the Spanish mastermind's personality.
The six-time Premier League winning manager introduced Palmer from the Cityzen youth set-up in 2020 - the now 22-year-old talent making 41 appearances for the side before signing for Chelsea for £40million last September. Sancho also made his way through the youth ranks of City, however, he joined Borussia Dortmund in 2017 having never made a senior appearance for the senior side.
Palmer became a force to be reckoned with since making his way to Stamford Bridge, scoring 31 goals and bagging 19 assists for Chelsea in 53 appearances across all competitions - his most impressive performance coming at the weekend when he put four past Brighton in the first half.
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Sancho, meanwhile, has had a bit of a tumultuous time since parting ways with city seven years ago. He played for Dortmund for four years before making the move to Manchester United in 2021, only to be sent back out on loan to the German side earlier this year having failed to settle.
He secured a loan move to Chelsea in the summer transfer window, where he has made three appearances so far and impressed with a few assists already. Guardiola previously admitted that he wasn't too phased at losing Sancho to Dortmund after he rejected a new contract. In 2021, he said: "I've said many times, it is not a regret. He decides. He's doing really well.
"Congratulations, he's an exceptional player. He is a national team player with huge quality, doing really well in Dortmund." Guardiola also admitted that he wanted him to stay at City, but was happy to wish him the best when an agreement could not be made. However, the Spaniard earlier questioned the forward's desire to fight for his place within a team.
Asked about why Sancho left in 2019, Guardiola said: "I don't know. He didn't want to take this challenge [to fight his way into the first team], this opportunity to discover if he was able to. He decided to go there. So, it's perfect. It's going well and congratulations on what he is doing.
"He is doing an incredible performance. He did it incredibly well this season. What would have happened this season [at City]? I don't know. Again, with the players, it depends on them and what they do on the pitch." Sancho scored 53 goals in 158 appearances with Dortmund, but ultimately struggled to find his feet at United after a £73m switch, with a turnover of just 12 goals in 83 matches.
However, it appears as though the 24-year-old is happy with his temporary move to Stamford Bridge under Enzo Maresca, seeing plenty of minutes to prove himself in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Guardiola has also had his say on Palmer's move to Chelsea and how the youngster has progressed over the last year.
Asked about if he regrets Palmer's departure from the Etihad, Guardiola told The Athletic: "I don't know. He's an exceptional player when he was here. I said many times, I didn't give the minutes that maybe he deserved and now he has at Chelsea. I understand completely."
He also noted that Palmer was looking for an exit from City for two years prior to a deal with Chelsea being agreed - despite the 53-year-old's desires to keep him in the north west. He added: "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 is gone but for two seasons he wanted to leave. Playing at that level is exceptional." Palmer's maiden season was impressive to say the least, netting 22 goals in the Premier League in 33 appearances - so much so that it caught the eye of at the time England manager Gareth Southgate, who called him up for this summer's Euro 2024 tournament in Germany.
Fortunately for Guardiola and City, they saw off Palmer and Chelsea on the opening weekend of the new season, winning 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. But it's clear the England star would be a real asset now for the champions had he stayed last year.