LONDON – Ahead of Cole Palmer’s return to the Etihad Stadium after his summer move to Chelsea, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he had no doubt the midfielder was a “star player”.

Academy product Palmer joined the London side for £42.5 million (S$72 million) after seemingly making his breakthrough at City in 2022-23, when he played in 25 games, scoring once.

This season he has 12 goals and nine assists, broken into the England set-up and been the standout player for Chelsea in a difficult position.

Asked if he knew the 21-year-old would make such a profound impact, Guardiola said on Feb 16: “If he plays regularly, yes. I didn’t have any doubts about his quality.

“The way he’s playing is a star player. He wanted the minutes, it was a question of time to show his immense quality.”

The player himself was more shocked than his former boss about how he has hit the ground running.

“I have been surprised by how well it’s gone here so quickly, but I always back myself to succeed,” said Palmer.

“I’m looking forward to going back to the Etihad. It will be strange, a weird feeling, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Palmer’s current manager Mauricio Pochettino says his charge “doesn’t care” about the pressure of his return to his boyhood club.

He said: “He is very smart. It is hard to find a word in English from Spanish; he is smart, intelligent and cheeky.

“He is emotionally intelligent. He doesn’t care (about the pressure of playing at City). He will play well or not well, but not because of the pressure.

“He is from Manchester, but he looks like he is Brazilian and Argentinian in his capacity to adapt so quick. One of our strengths as Argentinians is to adapt so quick.

“Maybe sometimes people from north to south struggle to adapt, but that’s the key – he adapted to life here in Cobham, around south London and the club.”

One player who has struggled to adapt this season is City’s Jack Grealish.

The 28-year-old was handed his first start in five weeks in the 3-1 midweek Champions League win against Copenhagen, but suffered a groin injury which rules him out of the Chelsea game.

“All I know is he is not available tomorrow,” said Guardiola.

While Liverpool and City’s positions will remain unchanged if both sides have the same results this weekend, City will be able to reclaim top spot if they beat Brentford on Feb 20 and Guardiola’s side catch up in the number of games played.

City have won their last 11 games in all competitions.

“We just need to win our games,” Guardiola said about the tight title race. “When we arrive with eight or nine games (remaining this season), we will see how many teams will be involved.

“It doesn’t matter if there are two, three or four (teams fighting for the title), we just need to do our job.”

Liverpool have 54 points after 24 games, while City, unbeaten in their last eight league games, are second and level on points with third-placed Arsenal (52). City have also played one game fewer than Arsenal.

Guardiola said while Mateo Kovacic and Sergio Gomez have returned to training and will be available, he was uncertain of Bernardo Silva’s status.

“Bernardo we will assess in today’s training session,” he said.

Chelsea, meanwhile, will miss defender Thiago Silva after he suffered a groin injury while attempting to block Jean-Philippe Mateta’s shot during the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace on Feb 12.

Midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka will also miss the game with a twisted knee, but Spanish goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, out since December with a knee injury, is available.

Chelsea held City to an eventful 4-4 draw at home in November and Pochettino said facing City would require the Blues, who sit 10th with 34 points, to attack.

“You need to be brave, to force them to defend, to run backwards, face to the goal,” he said.

“They’re a team that can dominate you and they’re going to make (you) suffer. I think the most important thing that we realised is we need to attack.” REUTERS, AFP