MANCHESTER CITY fans dubbed Cole Palmer a “City reject” on Sunday and he will hear the same chant from the away section at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
United supporters have heckled Palmer before yet he is a boyhood red and his family still staunchly follow United.
Palmer has scored four times against United – including a matchwinning hat-trick two years ago – and there was nothing muted about his celebrations.
But he has not settled into London life and still returns to Wythenshawe to socialise with friends at their local pub.
The Palmers would love for their prodigal son to return to Manchester and pull on the United shirt.
Perhaps a role swap would suit Palmer and Mason Mount. Mount has not started for United in more than three months following another lengthy lay-off through injury.
Michael Carrick claimed Mount sustained a “knock”. It must have been a hefty knock as Mount was then absent for six weeks.
Mount was one of the biggest losers of Ruben Amorim’s sacking. The Portuguese accommodated two No10s in his 3-4-2-1 system that Mount was well versed in from his Chelsea days under Thomas Tuchel.
Mount started the season, scored three key goals and seemed to have finally established himself in the United side.
He had also started to do more media activity, having been reluctant in his first 18 months at the club amid sensitivity over how Chelsea would react to some of his sound bites.
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But Carrick’s call to switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation left room for only one “10” and that was always going to be Bruno Fernandes. Mount has yet to start under Carrick.
Matheus Cunha has occupied the left-sided role as he has experience of playing there. Mount can play on the right but United have Bryan Mbeumo and Amad.
Mount and United was a mismatch. United recruited Mount, a playmaker, to play in central midfield and that stint lasted the first two games of the 2023-24 season.
Assigning Mount the No7 was also inadvisable. That number has cursed every player to don it since Cristiano Ronaldo left in 2009 apart from, well, Cristiano Ronaldo in his first season back.
Some Chelsea supporters applauded Mount on his return to the Bridge in April 2024, grateful for his role in the triumphant Champions League final against City in 2021.
Yet the majority booed him. Mount had entered the final year of his contract when he agreed to join United in a £60million move.
Even when Mount was absent for United’s 2-1 defeat of Chelsea in December 2023, he was not forgotten as Blues fans aired a caustic chant about him.
Mount will be in the away dugout on Saturday evening and sat on the other side of the tunnel is likely to be Alejandro Garnacho.
Chelsea are already open to cashing in on Garnacho less than seven months after his arrival.
It was curious timing of Garnacho last week to strike an apologetic note when discussing his behaviour towards the end of his time at United.
Garnacho is still only 21 and he has had an eventful four years since he made his United debut against Chelsea in April 2022.
Questionable guidance from his agents is undermined by the fact that they also represent Amad, an authentic and diligent character United furnished with a new contract last year.
Club figures admitted Garnacho’s loudmouth brother, Roberto, was more of a nuisance online than the player, who was prone to passive-aggressive posts on Instagram and X if he was dropped or substituted prematurely.
Garnacho was one of Erik ten Hag’s academy legacies at United yet the Dutchman had to read extracts from the riot act to him. Garnacho was late for a team meeting on his first pre-season tour and liked a tweet from an actor questioning Ten Hag’s treatment of him.
United are in the market for a left winger in the summer but Garnacho’s character is not missed. He was treated to a harsh reception back at Old Trafford in September when he was an unused substitute.
It is rare that United matchgoers boo a former player but Garnacho, Carlos Tevez, Gabriel Heinze and Angel di Maria have copped some severe stick.
Sir Alex Ferguson wrote in his 2013 autobiography: “’I confess I found working with Argentinian footballers quite difficult.”
Moises Caicedo is another South American who United have found it difficult against. Caicedo scored on his first appearance against them for Brighton – a 4-0 drubbing in May 2022 – and did a number on them as the Seagulls did the double against United the following season.
During the tetchy Mount negotiations, United indicated their willingness to withdraw and pursue Caicedo instead. That was purely posturing, as they never had the budget for the £115m midfielder.
They did in January 2021, though. United held discussions about signing Caicedo from Independiente del Valle but pulled out amid interference from agents. A United source said at the time the £4.5m fee could be better spent elsewhere.
Passing on Caicedo was especially questionable when Manuel Ugarte, bought three-and-a-half years later, can’t pass muster.
Caicedo was imperious again at Old Trafford against last season, firing in Chelsea’s equaliser in a man-of-the-match performance. Palmer is not the only one at Chelsea that United let slip through the net.
