Gary Neville believes Cole Palmer would be ‘gold’ for Manchester United but does not expect him to leave Chelsea this summer.
Palmer was heavily linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge towards the end of last season, with reports claiming he was unsettled at Chelsea.
The 24-year-old struggled with form and fitness in the first-half of the campaign but still finished the season with ten Premier League goals for an underperforming Chelsea team.
Manchester United and Manchester City emerged as two possible destinations for Palmer as he was linked with a Chelsea exit and Neville insists he would be ‘gold’ for his former club and a similar signing to the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Roy Keane.
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But Neville doubts the move will actually materialise, with Chelsea believed to view Palmer as one of the ‘untouchable’ members of their squad.
‘When Manchester United signed Bryan Robson, Ron Atkinson said something along the lines of “this is no risk, this is gold”,’ Neville said on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel.
‘I think Harry Kane would have been that for United, that would have been gold. You [Ferdinand] joining from Leeds, Wazza [Rooney] joining from Everton, Roy Keane from Nottingham Forest – those are all gold.
‘Declan Rice was the same before he joined Arsenal. They’re absolute guarantees, they’re certainties and in the end they will look cheap
‘If Sir Alex Ferguson was still in charge of Man United he would never have allowed Harry Kane to be anywhere else, he would have made sure he came to Old Trafford.
‘Declan Rice would have been the same. Sir Alex would have been all over those two.
‘It’s not about just signing English players because look at Robin van Persie – he was established in the Premier League and you knew he was going to deliver for you.
‘I do like the signings of [Matheus] Cunha and [Bryan] Mbeumo last summer because they’ve had that grounding in the Premier League.
‘They weren’t “gold” but there was a removal of risk because they’d played in the Premier League and they were stepping up a level and they were young and hungry.
‘Those type of signings are good. There’s talk of Cole Palmer and that looks like a signing that could be gold for Manchester United if he came to Old Trafford.
‘I don’t think it would happen though, I think Chelsea will hang onto him. But there’s very few signings like that available, it’s only every few years that these type of players become available.’
Manchester United are set to make Brazilian midfielder Ederson their first signing since appointing Michael Carrick on a permanent deal.
United are set to bring at least one more midfielder to Old Trafford this summer as they look to build on the promising start to Carrick’s tenure.
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