Pep Guardiola gives update on Cole Palmer future amid Premier League transfer interest

Pep Guardiola is not certain of keeping Cole Palmer this season despite his winning goal for Manchester City in the Super Cup.

Palmer started for the Blues in Athens on the right wing and came up with an equalising goal when the team were struggling to make a breakthrough against Sevilla. They went on to win 5-4 on penalties after five flawless spot-kicks from Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Mateo Kovacic, Jack Grealish, and Kyle Walker.

Former City winger Riyad Mahrez showed his approval for Palmer's performance on social media and the 21-year-old has the opportunity to grow into the role that Mahrez vacated when he moved to Saudi side Al-Ahli this summer. However, the England youth international also has interest from clubs including West Ham and Brighton that are offering him another challenge and potentially more minutes to develop.

Palmer's future remains uncertain as the final two weeks of the transfer window approaches, and when asked about his player after his decisive contribution in the Super Cup win Guardiola was not overly optimistic on the chances of keeping him. If City are to lose him, the manager expects it to be permanent.

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"I don’t know [if he will stay]," said Guardiola. "When we arrived I had the opinion that he wanted to leave but now I don’t know.

"I don't think a loan is going to happen. He's going to stay or he's going to be sold."

Commenting on his performance, he added: "He showed character – it is not easy to play defenders like [Marcos] Acuna, a young player in these stages it’s not easy. He played good and made a fantastic goal too.

Guardiola also refused to comment on the news that City have accepted a bid for Aymeric