{"id":4698,"date":"2026-04-11T05:01:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T05:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=4698"},"modified":"2026-04-11T05:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T05:01:41","slug":"chelsea-star-backed-to-join-man-utd-or-barcelona-the-fans-will-love-him-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=4698","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea star backed to join Man Utd or Barcelona: &#8216;The fans will love him&#8217; | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"646\" height=\"418\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27914036\" alt=\"Chelsea and Manchester United Club Crests\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Is a move from Chelsea to Manchester United on the cards? (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Emile Heskey has named Manchester United and Barcelona as two possible destinations for Chelsea and England star Cole Palmer.<\/p>\n<p>Palmer has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge in recent months, with reports claiming he is not completely settled in west London.<\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old completed a \u00a340m move to Chelsea in 2023 and quickly established himself as not only one of the best players at the club but in the Premier League as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>Palmer\u2019s talents were recognised at Manchester City but the fierce competition at the Etihad Stadium meant he only played 19 league games for his boyhood club before being sold.<\/p>\n<p>Man City must have instantly regretted their transfer decision, however, as Palmer hit the ground running at Chelsea, scoring 27 goals and making 15 assists during his first season at the club.<\/p>\n<p>While failing to hit those numbers again, Palmer has continued to impress ever since, scoring 18 goals last season as Chelsea qualified for the Champions League and won both the Conference League and Club World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>This season has been more frustrating for Palmer, who has missed ten league games due to niggly injuries.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"410\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2265589373.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27337656\" alt=\"Aston Villa v Chelsea - Premier League\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Chelsea and England star Cole Palmer (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Sun have previously claimed Palmer was not totally settled at Chelsea and was open to a move back to Manchester, with United said to be interested in a deal.<\/p>\n<p>Heskey would not be surprised if Palmer did secure a stunning move to Old Trafford but says the club he can see him at is Spanish giants Barcelona.<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether he expects Palmer to stay at Chelsea for a good few more years, ex-England striker Heskey told OLBG: \u2018If Cole Palmer is a Manchester United fan, probably not!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I could see someone like him in a Barcelona shirt. The way that he plays, the fans would love him.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-1345990059.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27337667\" alt=\"Manchester United Women v Manchester City Women - Barclays FA Women's Super League\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Former England striker Emile Heskey (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018But then again, when you\u2019re a kid and you\u2019re growing up, there\u2019s things that you dream of doing as a footballer.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You dream of playing at a World Cup. You dream of putting on that England shirt. You dream of lifting the FA Cup. Things like that. And you dream of playing for your boyhood club.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018So Cole will have dreams too, possibly to play for Manchester United, so I wouldn\u2019t put it past him if he did turn up there and they did take him on.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Manchester United largely struggled under former manager Ruben Amorim but have climbed back into the Champions League spots under caretaker boss Michael Carrick.<\/p>\n<p>United\u2019s upturn in form could earn Carrick the permanent job and Pat Nevin believes the ex-England midfielder could then persuade Palmer to make the move from Chelsea.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Does Cole Palmer fancy playing for Manchester United? That\u2019s it. Nobody knows except Cole Palmer,\u2019 Nevin told BestBettingSites.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018If he says Manchester United, I\u2019ve heard hints that he was a United fan as a kid. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s true, but I\u2019ve heard that was his team as a kid. That\u2019s a draw.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018When you look at what United are doing just now and how they\u2019re playing, and the possibility that you might actually have stability at Manchester United, that becomes a temptation. With Michael Carrick, it just feels like a different place. It feels totally different.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2266642935.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27914006\" alt=\"Manchester United v Aston Villa - Premier League\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>A Manchester United side with their mojo back could be a tempting proposition for Palmer (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ve been at Old Trafford a lot of times over the last few years and it\u2019s been a hard place to watch football sometimes.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The feeling hasn\u2019t even been ugly, just flat. Worse than anger is people being fed up, and you never want to see that at Manchester United because of the club it is, the history it has and the size it is. The Premier League needs a big Manchester United.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I hope Michael Carrick gets the job long term. I think the group that\u2019s in just now has already shown enough that they can lift the club.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I hope they get the job for at least the next year after this season, whatever happens between now and the end of the season. I\u2019d give them that.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Would that be enough to tempt Cole? I wouldn\u2019t be shocked.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on <meta charset=\"utf-8\"\/><br \/>\n<strong>Facebook,\u00a0<\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Metro_Sport\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Former Arsenal captain backed to become Manchester United manager<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Liverpool told to make stunning transfer bid for major Chelsea star<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Arsenal told they \u2018should have signed\u2019 \u00a360m Chelsea star instead of Viktor Gyokeres<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\">\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card accent--sport\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card__inner\">\n<h4>Football Newsletter \u2013 In The Mixer<\/h4>\n<p>Punchy analysis, transfer talk and more from Metro&#8217;s football experts, sent straight to your inbox every week.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; 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display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> Chelsea star backed to join Man Utd or Barcelona: &#8216;The fans will love him&#8217; | Football<br \/>\n<br \/>#Chelsea #star #backed #join #Man #Utd #Barcelona #fans #love #Football<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is a move from Chelsea to Manchester United on the cards? (Picture: Getty) Emile Heskey&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5511,3907,322,1046,317,3952,1278,230,654,562],"class_list":["post-4698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-backed","tag-barcelona","tag-chelsea","tag-fans","tag-football","tag-join","tag-love","tag-man","tag-star","tag-utd"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438.jpg",1200,630,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438-300x158.jpg",300,158,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438-768x403.jpg",640,336,true],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438-1024x538.jpg",640,336,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438.jpg",1200,630,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438.jpg",1200,630,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438-1115x630.jpg",1115,630,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438-1024x538.jpg",1024,538,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1221683597_1775747438-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=6\" rel=\"category\">Sports<\/a>","tag_info":"Sports","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}