Mauricio Pochettino issues controversial Cole Palmer demand for Man City return
Mauricio Pochettino has told Cole Palmer to carry on being “naughty” - and urged him to celebrate if he scores against his former club.
Pochettino paid Palmer the ultimate tribute by comparing him to Argentina star Angel Di Maria and wants the former Manchester City midfielder to enjoy his first return to the Etihad since moving to Stamford Bridge last summer.
But Pochettino made it very clear that he did not want to see ex-City stars Palmer and Raheem Sterling refrain from celebrating out of respect for their former club if they do score.
Chelsea boss Pochettino said: “When you play for different shirts and badges and clubs, you cannot stop your feelings. When you score, it’s the most beautiful feeling in your body and you cannot say: ‘I don’t want to celebrate.’
“I think you need to celebrate, you are now playing for another team. You show respect when you were there and you give everything to the club and the badge, and the people. But now you defend another shirt, you need to celebrate because, you know, you are part of another history.”
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Pochettino also says that he was happy City decided to let Palmer go in the summer but admitted they probably only sanctioned the deal because he is young and with much to prove. But former Argentina World Cup star Pochettino does see some similarities to his fellow countryman Di Maria in Palmer’s style and performances.
Pochettino said: “Maybe I’m wrong, but Di Maria because he plays in the same position, his physicality is similar. Of course Di Maria is an amazing player, a world champion and is still far away so Cole needs to improve a lot before he can reach his level.
“But you can see how clever he is and Di Maria was always also doing naughty things on the pitch because he’s so competitive. These types of player are so competitive.
“Everyone talked about ‘he’s an amazing player, a talented player, with potential to be top.’ But like all young players, there is a question mark as to how he would arrive and adapt to the team and the environment and everything.
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“But of course I need to be honest, he’s surprised everyone because always when you sign a player you expect something but not so quick like he was, after one or two weeks he was playing and it was like he had been here for years.”
Pochettino also underlined Chelsea’s other former City star Sterling’s importance to his squad - particularly as an older head among the younger players - despite him only coming on as a substitute in their last two games.
Pochettino added: “I think he is doing really well. I don’t like to compare but I think this season he’s doing really well for the team and the good thing is whether he plays or he doesn’t play, he is always positive, always helping and that’s very important for an experienced player like him.
“It’s important to have a player like that in the project when you have young players because you need his experience and adding to the team goals and good performances but also helping like in the last two games.”
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