Pep Guardiola says that “two or three” of Manchester City ‘s talented under-23 squad will take the step up to regular first team training next season. Asked if there would be other players apart from Delap making the step up, Guardiola replied that was possible, but when asked for names, he was reticent, adding that with transfer activity still uncertain, and with decisions to be made on which players would benefit from loan moves, it was not the time to say.
Pep Guardiola said: “It doesn’t help the young boys to go to the media, it can be more confusing than positive. We are delighted with what Maresca has done. He’ll be an extraordinary manager in the future – like I felt it with Arteta. He’s developed many young players that will help us. It will depend on how many stay and how many leave. Who we sign. It depends on that. There are two or three who will be regularly training with us and maybe part of the squad.”
Palmer would seem to be at the head of the queue to move up after a stellar season in Premier League 2. The highly-skilled attacking player finished as the league’s second top scorer with 13, behind Delap, and he also added seven assists.
