One of the unnegotiable principles in Pep Guardiola's Manchester City squad is that no place is guaranteed — and that might be why Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus are looking to leave.
Both can be City's best attackers when they are on form and given the chance, with both producing countless memorable moments or match-winning goals on the big stage. However, neither were getting the time they felt they deserved recently, with Erling Haaland's arrival adding to the competition.
Now, it looks like they will both leave City this summer, for a combined fee of over £100m, and that leaves City with less competition, but also an opportunity to promote the next generation of attacker at the club — another defining principle of the modern-day City.
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Julian Alvarez has a formidable record in South America, but has played through the summer and will be a work in progress. Jack Grealish will get more opportunities on the left, and maybe Bernardo Silva will return to the right more often.
But to support Riyad Mahrez, perhaps Cole Palmer will be the main beneficiary if two right-footed forwards leave the Etihad.
He enjoyed a brilliant season at academy level in 2020/21, really pushing on after the season restarted following the first pandemic shutdown. Then, in 2021/22, Palmer was effectively a first team player, playing just eight games for the youth team, and making 11 senior appearances, as well as a further 24 inclusions in the first team squad.
It was clear, too, that whenever he dropped down to the Under-23s, he was now far too good for that level, and will be again next season. City will keep him, rather than loan him out, and without Sterling or Jesus, he may find first team opportunities more available than they were last season.
After scoring a wonderful goal at Swindon in the FA Cup last season, Palmer uttered those immortal words: "Prem soon come" when asked about scoring his first goal in the Premier League.
Injury hampered his opportunities for much of the rest of the season, but he will now be looking to kick on with a clearer route to first team football — in a similar way that Phil Foden worked his way through the ranks and into Guardiola's thinking.
He's already scored in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and even the Champions League, but he knows that the Premier League is the competition that will really decide whether he is good enough to make it at City. Now, his chances in the competition look like they might increase, so Palmer's hopes of getting that first goal might come sooner than he originally planned.
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