Manchester United have had their fair share of frustrating near-misses in recent seasons.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went public with many of those a few months back, during that Overlap discussion with former Old Trafford team-mates Roy Keane and Gary Neville.
Had Solskjaer got his wish, Erling Haaland, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham would be wearing the red of Manchester United these days. And that’s before we get onto the likes of Eduardo Camavinga, Moises Caicedo and co, the latter’s poor Chelsea form notwithstanding.
Speaking of Chelsea, the man who hit that devastating hat-trick past Erik ten Hag’s side earlier in April probably should have ended up with the Red Devils too. It is no secret that United’s fabled academy, as you might expect under Glazer ownership, had run into some difficult times over the last decade or so.
And it’s pretty damning, really, that a Man United-mad youngster would end up down the road at City, eventually making his first-team breakthrough in sky blue before truly blossoming following a £42 million move to Chelsea.
Chelsea will abandon Olise chase after signing Palmer
“Yeah, when I was growing up I was a United fan,” Palmer told TNT Sport after breaking the hearts of his beloved Red Devils, scoring a penalty and then a deflected winner as Chelsea turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 triumph in the blink of an eye.
The good news is that, thanks to the excellent work of Nick Cox and co, United’s academy is back to doing what it has done for, well, more than half-a-century. That 2-1 victory over City in the midweek Premier League Cup final was certainly a cathartic moment for a club that had fallen behind their bitter rivals both at first-team and at youth level
Ethan Wheatley, Harry Amass and co are seemingly destined for big things alongside the Fletcher twins, Jack and Tyler, both of whom crossed the divide from blue to red last summer with United understandably keen to avoid another Palmer-type situation.
That is not to say Palmer cannot still come in pretty handy for the Red Devils.
Michael Olise is reportedly Man United’s number one target for the right-wing spot under Ineos. And Chelsea, who triggered his release clause in 2023 before the Frenchman decided to stay at Crystal Palace, have reportedly now left the race for good after landing another left-footer in Palmer instead.
Chelsea, 90Min add, will prioritise other positions this summer. Noni Madueke is another left-footer who plays off the right.
Michael Olise is a big Red Devils fan
Perhaps The Blues were also aware of suggestion that Olise, like Palmer, bleeds red. Literally and figuratively, we mean.
Per Football London, Palace’s silky number seven would have chosen Man United over Chelsea anyway, such is his adoration for the three-time European Champions.
Maybe that’s why he seemed so oddly reluctant to celebrate after banging in a stoppage time free-kick against United in January 2023…
And, with a release clause in his contract reportedly worth somewhere in the region of £60 million, it would almost be a surprise if Olise is not a Man United player by the time the window closes at the start of September, Palace powerless to prevent him following his dream should the Red Devils trigger that clause.
Olise has 11 goals or assists in this Premier League season, compared to the, erm, one of Antony, the man he is likely to take the place of at Old Trafford.
“He’s better than Antony, isn’t he,” former England, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Danny Murphy told talkSPORT (3 January, 12pm).
“(Olise is) better than what they have got.”