'Congratulations' - Pep Guardiola offers blunt response to question about former Man City prospect Cole Palmer shining at Chelsea

• Palmer sold to Chelsea in the summer
• Forward wanted guaranteed more minutes
• Guardiola shared a blunt response on Palmer

WHAT HAPPENED? Palmer's eagerness for consistent playing time drove his transfer to Chelsea from Manchester City in a deal worth £42.5million ($51.9m). Despite a promising pre-season, where he scored both in the Community Shield and European Super Cup final, increased competition, especially with Jeremy Doku's arrival, prompted Palmer's decision to seek new opportunities.

Palmer has been living up to the expectations under Mauricio Pochettino and has five goal contributions in eight Premier League appearances which has made him one of the most valuable additions to the squad. The City youth product will face his former employers for the first time this weekend and Guardiola belted out a blunt response when asked if it was a shame that the youngster is not at the Etihad.

WHAT THEY SAID: "Congratulations for Chelsea and him," he told reporters.

When further pressed to assess his performance for Chelsea the manager added: "Really pleased. The reason why was that, he wanted game time. He has it, so congratulations. He is a guy who came from the academy, he’s having success because it’s good for him and wish him the best."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Guardiola will also come up against Raheem Sterling, a former City player, who is gradually regaining his touch and boasts three goal contributions in the last four matches for the Blues. Guardiola admitted that the forward is getting back to his "best" and acknowledged his importance to City's success in his early years which saw the England international win four Premier League titles and a FA Cup.

"He’s playing really good, he’s back in his best moment with what I’ve seen of his performances lately," he said.

"He created incredible dangers for opponents like what he did here for many, many years. He was a big part of our success we had in the early years here together. Raheem was really, really important."

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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Getty Images

WHAT NEXT? Palmer and Sterling will look to be decisive against their former club when City will take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday in a Premier League encounter.