Paul Scholes backs Chelsea star to join Man Utd: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised’

Paul Scholes believes that Cole Palmer will eventually leave Chelsea to join Manchester United.

Manchester City decided to sell Palmer in 2023 to Chelsea and have watched the academy graduate develop into one of the biggest names in European football.

Palmer finished his first season at Chelsea with 27 goals and 15 assists, more goal involvements than any other player in the Premier League, and still managed ten goals last season despite persistent injury troubles,

Palmer was a surprise omission from Thomas Tuchel’s England World Cup squad this summer, but the time off has allowed the midfielder to hit the ground running, with two goals and an assist in Xabi Alonso’s first two league matches.

Last season, the 24-year-old was tentatively linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge last season, with reports suggesting he was frustrated and unsettled at Chelsea.

Manchester United were credited with interest in Palmer in a move that would have seen the midfielder join the club he supported as a boy, but Chelsea stood firm and insisted the player was ‘untouchable’.

Despite that, former Red Devils midfielder Scholes believes that Palmer will eventually make the move to Old Trafford further down the line in his career.

‘Looking back, United should have a sniff definitely, but we’re talking about rivals,’ Scholes said on The Good, The Bad & The Football when asked about Palmer’s initial move from City to Chelsea.

‘He’s a United fan, but were City really going to sell to United? I don’t think so, and why would you?’

Scholes’ former teammate Nicky Butt then added: ‘I could see him going from Chelsea to United eventually’, to which Scholes said: ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised.’

Speaking earlier in the summer, former French defender William Gallas also suggested it is a matter of when, not if, Palmer joins the club he supported growing up.

‘I don’t think Cole Palmer will go right now. I don’t think it’s time to go right now,’ Gallas told iPredicta.

‘He will definitely go to Manchester United in the future if he’s a big fan, if he’s got a dream to play for Man United, he will definitely go there, but right now I don’t think so.

‘I think he needs to have one more big season as he did two years ago, before he got his injury problem, then he might move.’

Palmer has previously shrugged off speculation linking him with a move to United, telling The Guardian in April: ‘Everyone just talks. When I see it I just laugh.

‘Obviously Manchester is my home. All my family are there, but I don’t miss it. Maybe I’ll miss it if I don’t go for three months or something. But then when I get home I think there’s nothing there for me anyway.

‘I’ve got no plans to move from Chelsea. We spoke to the owners and they’re sure of the players that are gonna do it. Reece won’t sign a six-year contract if he’s not spoken to the owners and the directors.

‘Me and Reece spoke a lot. About things we need, players we need to sign and how things need to be. He wouldn’t sign a new contract if he didn’t know what was going on.’

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