Michael Brown claims player Man City sold in 2023 was really ‘frustrated’ behind the scenes

Manchester City have seen a plethora of players make moves in and out of the club during Pep Guardiola’s reign.

While City have paid significant transfer sums to sign players such as Jack Grealish and Josko Gvardiol among others, they have also cashed in on other names in recent years like Julian Alvarez, Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte.

Despite making fairly regular changes to their squad, the Manchester club have still been able to maintain their dominance by becoming the first side to win four Premier League trophies in a row.

Even though Pep Guardiola’s side are now on the hunt for a fifth consecutive title, one pundit and former City player who has a connection to the club has shared some behind-the-scenes details on how one particular figure brought an end to his time at the Etihad Stadium.

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Michael Brown shares Cole Palmer details on Man City exit

Appearing in a recent edition of Football Daily, Michael Brown had this to say when asked if he thinks City made a mistake when they sold Cole Palmer to Chelsea during the 2023 summer transfer window.

He said: “It’s not a mistake. They were very much aware of what Cole Palmer was. They had a plan for him.

“He was supposed to go out last season on loan to go and develop because the pathway was blocked for him to play week in, week out.

“He was getting frustrated with that. So they decided that was going to be the model. Chelsea just kept coming really, really strong. The bid kept going up. And then at a level, say, there’s a wonderful long-term contract for Cole Palmer and Pep’s decision as well.

“If you really want to go to another club, you don’t want to go and do what we planned and that’s what we’re going to have to do. He just couldn’t get in the team and do what he wanted with the players there.

“We discussed it on the podcast last week regarding the people who are in that position. Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, notably the two players that would have made it a little bit of a stumbling block for him.

“He’s an incredible talent. I think he’s the star man in that team and I think that makes him better. I think it gives him an aura. It would be a little bit different in a City side. Yes, from a City point of view, I’d love to have him.

“All good players for certain are going to make the team better. But it’s now great that we’ve seen that young talent come through City’s Academy and for England now in this England squad, where he’s going to go and how he’s going to develop.

“And full credit to Chelsea, they took a bit of a punt really for the amount of money that they paid and the length of the contract.”

What has Palmer said about leaving City?

After making three appearances for City at the start of the previous season, Palmer joined Chelsea in a deal worth a reported fee of £42.5m (via BBC Sport).

Since then, the 22-year-old City academy graduate has gone on to score 31 goals and supply 19 assists in 53 games across all competitions.

Back in February, Palmer said that he joined Chelsea because he wanted to play every week, which is what he wasn’t able to do at the Manchester club.

Following that, Guardiola admitted that he should have given Palmer more minutes while he was at City.

Now that Brown has revealed that Palmer was getting frustrated with his bit-part role in Guardiola’s team, it’s clear that moving to Chelsea has been the right move for him.