Ryan Giggs says £42.5m Chelsea star would ‘fit the bill’ at Man Utd

Ryan Giggs says Cole Palmer would ‘fit the bill’ and ease some of the pressure on Bruno Fernandes if he were to join Manchester United in the summer transfer window.

United spent in the region of £200million on overhauling their misfirng attack last summer, with Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko all arriving through the doors at Old Trafford.

But the Red Devils are exploring potential avenues to further strengthen in the final third at the end of the season and Chelsea star Palmer, 23, has emerged as a genuine transfer target.

Having grown up supporting United, Palmer would reportedly be ‘open’ to the prospect of a move to the Theatre of Dreams, just three years on from his £42.5million arrival at Stamford Bridge.

Recent reports claimed Palmer has become disillusioned with life at Chelsea and frustrated the decision to offload Nicolas Jackson on loan to Bayern Munich ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

Chelsea’s hierarchy, though, are said to be adamant that Palmer is not for sale – and the Club World Cup holders find themselves in a strong negotiating position given the England international’s contract is not due to expire until 2033.

Asked if Palmer would fit the bill at United on the Rio Presents YouTube channel, Giggs told his former team-mate Rio Ferdinand: ‘Yeah, he would, Manchester lad.

‘Where would he play with obviously Bruno [Fernandes] at No.10? He could play off the right possibly.

‘But yeah, we talk about [Rasmus] Hojlund and [Benjamin] Sesko, it’s only really Bruno who is creating things time and time again.

‘What if Bruno has a bad day or he’s injured? You need three or four players in your squad who can make things happen for these players to put the ball in the back of the net.’

Muscle problems and a broken toe have kept Palmer sidelined for 11 matches in what has been the forward’s most challenging season yet since swapping Manchester City for Chelsea in 2023.

He has, though, managed to rack up nine goals and an assist in the English top flight, with Liam Rosenior’s side currently sitting sixth and at risk of missing out on Champions League qualification.

Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat at home to United at the weekend meant Palmer has now gone seven games without finding the net – a statistic he will be no doubt be desperate to put right when the club return to action at Brighton on Tuesday night.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian last week, Palmer brushed off the recent speculation over his Chelsea future and dismissed rumours he was ‘missing’ being back home in Manchester.

‘Everyone just talks. When I see it I just laugh,’ he said.

‘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’ve still got a lot to play for. We’ve got the FA Cup semi-final and if we finish in a Champions League spot it puts us in a good position to sign players that we need.

‘We spoke to the owners and they’re sure of the players that are gonna do it. Reece [James] 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.’

Palmer is confident Chelsea can challenge for major silverware next season – as long as they get their recruitment right when the summer transfer window opens for business.

‘We want to win now and I think if we add right in the summer we can compete for serious trophies next season. I don’t think we’re far off,’ he added.

‘If you sign the right players in the right positions and the right characters and profiles, I think we have more than enough quality to compete and be more consistent than we’ve shown over this season.

‘Bringing a manager in mid-season, you have no pre-season, hardly have time to train. You’re just focusing on games. But the manager is good and when he has a proper pre-season and gets his ideas across properly and the way he wants to play he’s a top coach.

‘If we as players perform to how we should be performing and we get the right players we can, him and us as a group, do some work.’

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