Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has questioned Cole Palmer's fit at Old Trafford. Find out why Bruno Fernandes' future is key to this potential transfer saga.
Cole Palmer has had persistent rumours of a move to Manchester United over the last year, with links to United based on his being a United fan as a child and on reports of him being unsettled in London.
The Manchester City academy graduate has been one of the best attackers in the Premier League over the last two season with him winning the Conference League and Club World Cup with Chelsea, seeing him star in both these tournament wins.
Despite this, Palmer has had a significant drop-off in form this season, with him having missed a third of the season due to injury, scoring nine and assisting one in his 22 Premier League appearances.
Palmer still has, remarkably, seven years left on his deal after signing a contract extension after his incredible debut season, making his value very hard to estimate, with only Chelsea dishing out these very long contracts.
Scholes points out Fernandes & Palmer problem
Speaking on his podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Football, ex-United midfielder Paul Scholes expressed his caution over the club signing Palmer if club captain Bruno Fernandes were to stay at the club.
"The only problem I see with signing him is, where does he play? He doesn't play instead of Bruno Fernandes," said Scholes.
The Class of 92' midfielder did, however, explain that if Fernandes were to leave in the summer, then Palmer is a definite option for United to go for. "If Bruno Fernandes goes in the summer, then, yeah, all day long."
Bruno has attracted interest from him over the last season, following United's underwhelming 15th-place finish in last year's Premier League.
The Portuguese midfielder turned down a £100 million offer to join Saudi side Al-Hilal last summer, and Scholes is worried that the rumours will kickstart again this summer.
Can Palmer and Fernandes work together?
One of the key difficult points in currently discussing the potential of Palmer and Bruno playing in the same side is the question over who will be the next Manchester United manager.
The current way Carrick has lined up in his interim spell with the Red Devils makes it difficult to envisage the pair playing together with Bruno currently looking irreplaceable in the number ten.
However, if United's next manager prefers a system with two number tens, similar to Ruben Amorin, that could definitely work and looks like an exciting prospect.
Although it would leave Bryan Mbuemo and Matheus Cunha questioning where they fit into the side, and if Palmer is brought in, it would be all but the end for Joshua Zirkzee's United career.