Guardiola in the dark about City bright light Palmer

Pep Guardiola does not know whether UEFA Super Cup goalscorer Cole Palmer will be a Manchester City player by the end of the summer transfer window. 

The much-admired winger, 21, was the Citizens' player-of-the match as they overcame Sevilla 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw to lift the trophy in Piraeus. 

With West Ham and Brighton both keeping tabs on Palmer's progress, Guardiola admitted he is not sure what the future holds but ruled out any suggestion of a loan move. 

The City boss said: "The opinion I had when he arrived is he wanted to leave, but now I don’t know what's going to happen. 

"I don't think a loan is going to happen. He's going to stay or going to sell, but I think a loan is not going to happen."

Palmer set the Super Cup alight, sending the game into extra-time with a cleverly placed header just after the hour mark to cancel out a first-half strike from Youssef En-Nesyri. 

It was his second goal on the big stage for City in as many weeks, coming hot on the heels of his long-range drive against Arsenal in the Community Shield. 

Guardiola added: "He has a character. It's not easy to play against defenders like [Marcos] Acuna, for example, who is a top defender. 

"It's not easy, it's a final. He’s a young player playing in these stages. 

"It's not easy for these guys. 

"He played really, really good and made a fantastic goal, too."

While happy to see his Treble winners capture yet another trophy, Guardiola isn't impressed with the Premier League scheduling that requires City to be back in action on Saturday evening. 

The game in Greece kicked-off at 10pm and spilled past midnight after extra-time in energy-sapping heat. 

City fly back to the UK on Thursday and need to be ready to play host to a lively Newcastle side for an 8pm kick-off on Saturday. 

Guardiola said: "Of course tomorrow will be even more happier than today. 

"Recover, not one drop of alcohol today. 

"Recover as much as possible because again, from Greece, thank you so much for the Premier League to let us play on Saturday. And not on Sunday and Monday. 

"Thank you so much."