Cole Palmer’s success since leaving Manchester City for Chelsea really stings for Manchester United fans, given his love for the club.
Manchester United boast a long and storied history when it comes to bringing through academy players.
Harry Amass became United’s 253rd academy graduate earlier in March when he came on for his Premier League debut against Leicester City.
The path to stardom at Old Trafford is not an easy one; even Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo, two of United’s top academy graduates in recent memory, have been through difficult times.
Everybody passing through the United ranks dreams of becoming just like the ‘Class of 92’, but hitting those heights is not an easy task.
Whilst supporters hope to see more prospects emerging over the coming years, there is a sense of ‘what could have been’ when watching Cole Palmer at Chelsea.
Colin Little on Manchester United interest in Cole Palmer
Palmer hails from Wythenshawe and emerged through the City ranks despite being a boyhood United fan.
Nedum Onuoha confirmed Palmer’s love for United, whilst Jamie Carragher backed Palmer to join United down the line.
That seems a little unlikely right now, though, with Palmer becoming a Premier League superstar at Chelsea.
Palmer’s form may have dipped of late, but his record of 39 goals and 22 assists in 78 games for Chelsea is pretty astonishing.
City may well live to regret selling Palmer in the first place, but they actually came so close to losing him to United many years ago.
United youth coach Colin Little has told the Talk of the Devils podcast that he knows Palmer’s family well – and United were ‘close’ to signing Palmer when he was just 16.
Little noted that City weren’t sure about keeping Palmer at the time and the midfielder was ‘umming and ahhing’ about quitting to join United.
City ended up producing the offer to keep Palmer, leaving Little and United to miss out.
“I know Cole Palmer’s family quite well, I know his dad and his uncle. We were close to getting Cole Palmer when he was about 16, believe it or not,” said Little. “He was umming and ahhing, and I knew he was a big United fan.
“He was at that age where you’re allowed to leave, 16 is it? They were umming and ahhing, Man City, about it. I think City, in the end, made him a good enough offer, but really he was always a United fan, and it was close, I remember speaking.
“I think City needed to show him a bit more love and that kind of stuff. We never quite got it over the line, but it would’ve been nice if we did, wouldn’t it?” he added.
- READ MORE: Cole Palmer says there is one Man Utd legend who had absolutely ‘everything’, he adores him
Cole Palmer to Manchester United a pipe dream
We would love to see Palmer in the famous red shirt, and we can imagine that he would be similarly keen to make that happen before he finishes his career.
The problem is that Palmer’s Chelsea contract runs until 2033 – eight years away.
Palmer will be 31 by the time his contract ends and potentially beyond the peak of his powers.
Chelsea would be under no pressure to sell Palmer any time soon and United would need a major turnaround in Palmer’s situation at Stamford Bridge to make a deal possible.
That would surely either need to revolve around continued absence from the Champions League or Palmer being desperate to leave West London.
Palmer is something of a pipe dream for United, but you can never truly say never given some of the surprising deals we have seen in years gone by, such as Robin van Persie leaving Arsenal to join United in 2012.
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