• Manager says midfielder asked to leave City two seasons before
• Pochettino confirms Enzo Fernández is playing with a hernia

Pep Guardiola has described Cole Palmer as the “decisive player of the season” and said Manchester City must find a way of negating him in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea. Guardiola also revealed that Palmer asked to leave City for two seasons before making his £42m move to west London in September .

Palmer joined City at under-eight level and made 19 appearances for the club across three years before leaving for Chelsea, and having scored for City in their Community Shield defeat to Arsenal in August, as well as in their European Super Cup victory over Sevilla that followed 10 days later. He will line up against last season’s treble winners as the Premier League joint-top scorer with 20 goals, alongside Erling Haaland, who is a doubt for the semi-final.

• Club’s losses reduced by property deal with sister company
• Chelsea would have lost £166.4m without hotel sales

Premier League clubs reacted with exasperation after seeing that ­Chelsea eased their financial ­position with the £76.5m sale of two hotels to a ­sister company in a deal that appears to have helped the club avoid a breach of profitability and ­sustainability rules (PSR).

Chelsea’s accounts, published last weekend, revealed the club made a loss of £89.9m in the last financial year. That figure would have been £166.4m without the hotels sale from Chelsea FC Holdings Ltd to Blueco 22 Properties Ltd. Both companies are subsidiaries of Chelsea’s holding company, Blueco 22 Ltd.

Forward, who faces Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday, has managed a debut season goal tally up there with big names

The pure poacher’s instinct. The understanding of timing and angles, the striker’s sixth sense for exactly where the ball is going to be, and exactly what he’s going to do with it. The ball is loose in the penalty area, and as Nicolas Jackson swoops in with the late run his eyes are fixed firmly on the target. Which, alas, is wedged under the arm of his teammate Cole Palmer.

“Next time they’re all out,” Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino fumed after the penalty fracas on Monday night that somehow managed – in true Chelsea fashion – to snatch a PR disaster from the jaws of a thumping 6-0 victory . As for Jackson, the incident with Palmer and Noni Madueke hardened the views of many Chelsea fans against him, which is some considerable achievement in a game where you have also managed a goal and an assist.

Treble winners turn their focus to becoming the first English men’s club to claim a double-double in FA Cup semi-final at Wembley

Chelsea beware: at 5.15pm on Saturday Pep Guardiola expects Manchester City to show precisely how little sorrow they feel for themselves after being dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid .

The FA Cup semi-final comes 72 hours after Wednesday’s penalty shootout heartbreak and, maybe, too soon for Mauricio Pochettino’s team as a smarting City aim to forget their lost double-treble and take another step in their bid to become the first English men’s club to claim a double-double.

On a night when Jordan Pickford’s distribution deteriorated and Jarrad Branthwaite added to Sean Dyche’s gloom by going off injured, nothing summed up the extent of Everton’s collapse more than the fact that the players who tried hardest to stop Cole Palmer scoring were wearing blue.

Even Chelsea’s most emphatic win in the Premier League this season had to feature a reminder of their immaturity. Palmer, whose second hat-trick in as many home games moved him up to 20 goals and nine assists in his debut season in west London, was as bemused as anyone when Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke tried to take a second-half penalty off him.

• Premier League updates, 8pm BST kick-off at Stamford Bridge
• Everton’s points deduction appeal will be heard before final day
• Mail Michael with your thoughts | Premier League standings

I can’t tell you how excited I am about Jarrad Branthwaite . What a brilliant young defender he is, and I really hope he makes the England squad this summer, even if I suspect he won’t make Southgate’s starting XI (although he should IMO).

The suitors will be hovering this summer, regardless of whether Everton survive or not. Manchester United have been linked with an £80m bid, which is not the first time in recent years they have spent that sum on a big English centre back. But Branthwaite is a more complete player than Harry Maguire, even at 21 years old, and has that magic quality: pace.

Dom’s got a tight hamstring, nothing more, so we’re happy in the sense that we think it will recover quickly. It was a tight call. We also lost Gana this morning who woke up with a tight calf.

• Manchester City second at £60.6m over the course of year
• Period to February 2024 includes past two transfer windows

Premier League clubs spent more than £400m on agents in the year to February 2024, with Chelsea handing over a record £75m to players’ representatives.

Figures released by the Football Association show that Premier League clubs paid £409m to intermediaries from 1 February 2023 to 1 February 2024, which includes the past two transfer windows.

Welcome returns at Liverpool, Arsenal and Villa juggle ambitions and Guimarães’s discipline under scrutiny

Should Bruno Guimarães be booked against Tottenham at St James’ Park the Newcastle and Brazil midfielder faces a dilemma. Given that Guimarães is on nine yellow cards, a 10th would trigger an automatic two-game suspension, depriving Eddie Howe of a key player for forthcoming games at Crystal Palace and at home to Sheffield United. Alternatively, Guimarães could make sure he collected a second yellow card, ideally late in stoppage time, and be sent off. In such a red card scenario, the sanction would merely be a one-game ban. Considering that Guimarães has managed to avoid a booking in 10 games since mid-January the best solution would be to extend that run to 11 matches and then relax in the knowledge that the accumulated bookings slate will be wiped clean after the Premier League’s 32nd game – Tottenham’s visit to Newcastle. Yet if the Brazilian transgresses do not be surprised if he follows Anthony Gordon’s example.Gordon has remained on eight bookings, despite acquiring his ninth and 10th yellow cards in his team’s recent 4-3 home win over West Ham . The collection of the second, deep in stoppage time, dictated that yellow became red and, despite Gordon being sent off, the England winger stayed on eight bookings. The current rules certainly seem ripe for manipulation. Louise Taylor

Everton’s Sean Dyche badly needs a win while Liverpool and Manchester United renew their historic rivalry

Michael Olise’s anticipated return from injury for Crystal Palace against Manchester City could not be more timely for Oliver Glasner’s struggling side. The France Under-21 international has been in sensational form this season on the rare occasions he has made it on to the pitch – Olise has played only 755 minutes so far in just 11 appearances, but in that time has scored six goals and provided three assists. City are believed to be one of several clubs who have been monitoring his progress and will be wary of the threat he poses to their title ambitions, especially if he can adapt quickly to Glasner’s favoured 3-4-2-1 formation. Like Palace, who are still not quite safe given their testing run-in that only features games against sides above them, Eberechi Eze has not been in his best form so far under the Austrian. But could the return of Olise help the England midfielder also rediscover his touch? Ed Aarons

Crystal Palace v Manchester City, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)

Aston Villa v Brentford, Saturday 3pm

Everton v Burnley, Saturday 3pm

Fulham v Newcastle, Saturday 3pm

Luton v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm

Wolves v West Ham, Saturday 3pm