FA Cup: Cole Palmer wanted to leave Manchester City for two years, says Guardiola

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has praised "exceptional" Cole Palmer – but insists keeping him at the Etihad Stadium was a lost cause.

City will seek to contain Palmer at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening when they face him and his new club Chelsea in the last four of the FA Cup.

Palmer, who moved to Stamford Bridge in the last days of the summer transfer window, has enjoyed a breakout season in London, surging to the top of the Premier League's goalscoring charts with 20 strikes.

Prior to joining Chelsea, Palmer had played only 19 senior league games spread over three seasons. Guardiola has admitted before that he underused a player who now looks a good bet for England's 2024 European Championships squad, but says the 21-year-old had his heart set on a move for some time.

"He's an exceptional player, we knew when he was here," said the Catalan coach. "I've said many times, I didn't give the minutes that maybe he deserved and now he has at Chelsea. I understand completely. He's a shy guy with a lot of potential. It is what it is. He's playing fantastically well.

"But he was asking for two seasons to leave. I said 'no, stay'. But he still said 'no, I want to leave'. What could we do? I said stay because Riyad [Mahrez] has gone but for two seasons he wanted to leave."

City go into Saturday's semi-final having suffered penalty shoot-out heartbreak at the hands of Real Madrid in the last eight of the Champions League. While admitting that defeat still stings, Guardiola insists they must regroup, with a domestic double still in their sights.

He said: “We don’t have another option. I don’t want us to feel sorry for ourselves. In football, you lose games. We performed at our best and we were not able to win. You have to