He's a cracking player and I wish we could have found a way for him to stay.
But all of our academy players have to spend a long time training with the first team and seeing probably fewer minutes than they'd like as they learn our tactics and wait for their chance to shine. And nearly all of the players we've bought have had to spend significant stretches of time on the bench too.
The squad thrives not just on the quality of each individual player, but on the respect they have for each other to know that someone else may be more suited for a particular match than them, and that the solution to that is to support the players on the pitch and work even harder in training.
I'm not saying Palmer was disrespectful in wanting more playing time - it's perfectly understandable and he won't be the first player to have asked the question. But it would have been disrespectful to the squad of Pep to make any promises - all he can do is try to convince the player of the value of this approach.
I also think that the way the club has treated its young players (I'm thinking Foden, Lewis) has been sensible and will pay big dividends in future years. Those talented youngsters have been praised and encouraged but not immediately thrust into playing every game and carrying all our expectations on their backs as teenagers (I'm throwing a glance at united here but they're not the only ones to do it). A player who's promising in his late teens may develop into a superstar or he may stall and end up as simply a decent professional (or worse). Putting all those expectations on a kid, and making them play all the time with very little respite, is more likely to result in physical and mental fatigue than a thriving, hungry player. It looks like when these players are coming through, the message we send is "you're good, you belong in the first team - now the real work starts" and we don't let them rest on their laurels.
Palmer was only just 20 when he left us. If he'd stayed, he would have got more playing time if he'd kept working hard, but he wouldn't be the main man like he is at Chelsea. The way he's taken to that role suggests he's one of the rare young players (like a Bellingham) that really shines and grows when he's carrying a team on his shoulders. We could never have given him that due to the quality of our squad and the collaborative nature of how our team works.
I love to see our academy products doing well. There's a little regret that it's not with us, and I hope he leaves his shooting boots at home when we play Chelsea, but the move was the right thing for Cole to get the experience he wanted and the right thing for City to let a player go rather than risk upsetting the squad dynamics by making promises about playing time to a player who hadn't yet proved himself.
I'm proud of him and excited for his future. I hope he has a brilliant career, wins a load of personal accolades, maybe the odd Cup with Chelsea if we've already been knocked out, pushes Erling for the golden boot for years to come, and really delivers for England at a major tournament.
