Chelsea star Cole Palmer has grown unsettled with life in London two and a half years after joining from Manchester City. The Manchester native is open to any interest from Manchester United, the club he supported as a child.
The 23-year-old Chelsea star grew up in Wythenshawe, a stronghold of Manchester United fans, and regarded Wayne Rooney as his idol since childhood. However, the Red Devils failed to recruit him into the Carrington training camp back then. Instead,
Palmer joined cross-town rivals Manchester City, where he spent 15 years. In 2023, he left Pep Guardiola’s side for Chelsea with a transfer fee of £42.5 million.
Now, unsettled with life in London, Palmer is open to returning to Manchester—but his destination of choice is Manchester United. He has no intention of going back to the Etihad Stadium, where he mostly sat on the bench under Guardiola. Instead, he is eager to follow in the footsteps of his childhood hero and step onto the pitch at Old Trafford.
As an attacking midfielder, Palmer used to imitate Rooney’s playing style in his backyard during his childhood. He revealed in 2023: “What a fantastic player Rooney was! I watched all his games growing up, and he has always stuck in my mind. Ever since I was a kid, he has been the idol of my football career.” In an interview the same year, his grandfather Stretch made a surprising revelation: the future star once attended Manchester City training sessions wearing Manchester United gear. “When he first joined City, he often wore a Manchester United jersey or clothes with the United crest under his sky-blue kit,” Stretch said. “He was a United fan, but City offered a better development environment, superior training facilities, and more opportunities to nurture his talent. Nevertheless, this never affected his performance when facing United in youth team matches—he always did his best to beat them.”
Palmer’s contract with Chelsea runs until 2033. His development has been hindered this season, as he has only made 11 starts due to recurring groin injuries. The homesick Mancunian often returns to Wythenshawe to visit friends and family. In fact, he came very close to signing for Manchester United when he was 16 years old.
Colin Little, a Manchester United youth coach, disclosed last year how close Palmer was to joining the Red Devils in his teenage years: “I know Palmer’s family very well, including his father and uncle. Believe it or not, we were on the verge of signing him when he was around 16. He was hesitant at that time, and I knew he was a die-hard United fan. At that age when he was allowed to leave freely (around 16, I suppose), both he and City were weighing their options. In the end, City put forward a sufficiently generous offer. But he has always been a United fan at heart. We were really just one step away back then—I still remember that conversation.”
Last summer, Manchester United splashed out around £200 million to sign attacking players such as Jeremy Doku, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Šeško. To lure Palmer away from Stamford Bridge (with seven and a half years left on his contract), the Red Devils will undoubtedly need to pay a huge sum of money. However, the club may face a star-sized vacancy this summer—the long-term future of captain Bruno Fernandes remains uncertain. Fernandes’ contract with United expires next year, with the club holding a one-year extension option. But according to the agreement, he can move to an overseas club for £57 million this summer. The Red Devils captain may seek a transfer after the World Cup.
