The winter transfer window opened a couple of weeks ago, and it’s an opportunity for many clubs to strengthen their teams in areas where they’re weak, due to injuries and weaknesses in certain positions.
We have seen deals across the Premier League, including Manchester City acquiring both Marc Guehi and Semenyo, Tottenham completing the signing of Conor Gallagher and Souza, Lucas Paqueta departing from West Ham United for Flamengo, and Leeds United signing Facundo Buonanotte on loan.
However, Premier League clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle, and Chelsea, aside from the deal for Yisa Alao from Sheffield Wednesday, haven’t made any major signings.
There have also been several transfer rumours, but the one that stood out to me was the Cole Palmer link to Manchester United; when I saw it, it sounded like nothing more than a farce. What was even more mind-blowing was the way many analysts, journalists, and content creators believed such a false transfer was materialising.
How exactly did this transfer rumour come into play, and who even orchestrated such a transfer rumour?
How did this rumour start?
This rumour was first reported by Dan King, a football writer and The Sun correspondent who primarily covers Chelsea news. They had reported this first on 20th January, 2026.
The report stated that Palmer misses his family and friends in Manchester, where he has spent most of his life, noting that he was a Manchester United supporter growing up, as images of a young Cole Palmer in a United jersey circulated online.
Cole Palmer was born in Wythenshawe, a southern part of Manchester, and joined the Manchester City academy in 2010, starting in the under-8 team, and captained the under-18 team in the 2019/2020 season.
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Why Manchester United?
Source: [ @DanKing_1974] on X/Twitter
The Sun has also ruled out Palmer returning to his former team, Manchester City, as long as Pep Guardiola remains the manager. He would prefer to link up with former manager Enzo Maresca if he takes over if Pep Guardiola steps down.
That left them with only Manchester United, as the fandom was also a major factor, and he (Palmer) did not want to work with Pep Guardiola, according to The Sun.
Goal also wrote an article about his interview with Sky Sports, where he said, “When I do go back to the stadium [Old Trafford], it’s good because I used to go and watch matches there.”
Palmer was also asked who his idol was when growing up, and he mentioned United legend Wayne Rooney, saying, “Obviously, I supported United, and he was probably the best player when I was watching them.”
From this, it is clear that he has been a lifelong Manchester United fan, and it would be a dream signing for all United fans to have a player of Cole Palmer’s calibre in their team.
But here’s why it’s almost impossible to pull off.
Price Tag
One of the main hindrances to this transfer happening is the price tag. SPORTbible reported that despite all these links to Manchester, a fee of around £100M will be required, with some sources going as far as £180M, so as not to receive backlash from the supporters.
On Transfermarkt, Cole Palmer is currently valued at £120M, plus Manchester United will not also want to sell cheaply to their direct rivals, Manchester United.
Plus, imagine a scenario where Pep leaves, and Manchester City hire Maresca, and both clubs are reportedly interested; it’ll be a stronger reason to hike the price of their talisman, Cole Palmer.
Let’s not rule out the fact that despite his injury and fitness struggle this season, he’s still Chelsea’s cornerstone, and they are building their future around him for years to come.
Lastly, Cole Palmer is a home-grown player, having joined the Manchester City academy in 2010 and left the club in 2023, spending 13 years at the club, the 3 years U-19 players are meant to spend to qualify as home-grown players.
That is an amount INEOS will not really want to spend on a player.
His contract length
Cole Palmer’s contract length is also a barrier to this illusion of a transfer. The attacking midfielder initially signed a contract until 2031 when signing from Manchester City for £40M in 2023.
In August 2024, Palmer extended his contract by a further two years until 2033 after his stellar performance, amassing 22 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League and 27 and 15 in all competitions.
Cole Palmer also finished second in the Premier League top scoring charts and also won England’s player of the year in 2024.
AM depth
The attacking midfielder pecking order is also quite deep at Manchester United, which makes this transfer more unrealistic.
If Palmer happens to move to Manchester United, he will have to battle the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Mason Mount, Matheus Cunha and even Shea Lacey, who can operate as a 10 or right winger. Even Bryan Mbuemo, primarily a right winger, can operate there as well.
It is evident that United are not really seeking this position, given the immense squad depth they already possess.
Injuries
Spending that amount of money on a player who has battled a lot of injuries this season is eyebrow-raising.
This season, Cole Palmer has struggled with injuries and match fitness, missing 100 days, 18 games, and starting only 10 Premier League games.
Palmer has missed more games this season (18) than his first two seasons at Chelsea combined (6)
When Cole Palmer is fully fit, he is one of the best players in the Premier League, and he is still Chelsea’s talisman.
Conclusion…
This transfer is highly unrealistic and doesn’t really make much sense. Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior, when asked, immediately shut it down by saying, “I’ve had numerous conversations with Cole, and he seems very, very happy to be here.
“He is very, very happy to be here. He’s a huge part of our long-term plans.
This shows that this is completely false news, and the only realistic scenario in which this might happen is if Bruno Fernandes departs for Al Hilal. I doubt that INEOS will want to spend that amount of money on Cole Palmer and would rather integrate Cunha in that position.
It continues to leave many people scratching their heads, perplexed as to why United would want to make a transfer like this.
Even credible football journalists like David Ornstein, a Chelsea correspondent for The Athletic, didn’t report it, and Fabrizio Romano said it was false.
A lot of people are just after clicks (clickbait) and attention, which is why you shouldn’t believe everything you see and read on various social media platforms.