Youngster Cole Palmer scores hat-trick in youth game just hours after appearing for Manchester City

By Ben Morse, CNN

Ah, the joys of youth.

Having boundless energy is one of the perks of being young.

But Cole Palmer took it to a new level on Saturday, appearing in a youth game just hours after coming on in Manchester City’s 2-0 victory against Burnley in the Premier League.

Palmer came on as a 90th minute substitute replacing Portugal midfielder Bernado Silva.

And he even had enough energy to cap off an eventful day with a stunning hat-trick against Leicester in the Premier League 2.

The 19-year-old showed why City manager Pep Guardiola had faith in him, curling in three exquisite finishes to hand his side a big 5-0 victory.

Palmer explained his decision after his long day, saying he always knew he wanted to play with his academy teammates.

“Playing with the first team at three then driving over to the Academy Stadium and scoring a hat-trick and another three points, it was a good day. I saw that the Elite Development Squad were playing at half seven and the first team were at three,” told the Manchester City media team afterwards.

“So, I thought if I don’t get 30 minutes or something I asked if I could come over and play and he said yeah, I could come over and play.

“I’m doing what I love — I can’t complain. It’s hard to keep focused and keep the energy all day but apart from that I enjoyed it. I just try to entertain and score goals for the fans and do what I do.

Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videos

“Everyone wants to play games so when I saw the opportunity to play I thought I might as well come and play and that’s what I did.”

Palmer scored his first senior goal for City in the Carabao Cup against Wycombe Wanderers, as well as scoring two goals in three games for England’s Under-21s.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.