• City manager had post-match exchange with midfielder
• ‘Ask Cole if you remember what he said, I don’t think so’

Enzo Maresca has dismissed Gary Neville’s claim that Pep Guardiola was playing Cole Palmer when he had a long, public conversation with the midfielder after Chelsea’s defeat at Manchester City.

Neville, speaking on his podcast after commentating on the game, suggested that Guardiola had seized an opportunity to distract his former player as part of a power move.