Chelsea tipped to sell Cole Palmer to Man Utd after missing out on CL qualification on one condition | OneFootball

Chelsea have been tipped to sell star player Cole Palmer to Manchester United and miss out on Champions League qualification during the 2025/26 run-in.

Palmer is said to be a boyhood Man Utd fan, but he progressed through the ranks at Manchester City before he joined Chelsea.

The 2025/26 campaign has been frustrating for Palmer as he’s been impacted by injuries, but he remains one of the best attacking midfielders in the Premier League.

The England international is also Chelsea‘s best player, but he has been heavily linked with a potential exit from Stamford Bridge in recent months.

Reports last month claimed Palmer has been disgruntled since the exit of former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, with the attacker mooted as a possible replacement for Bruno Fernandes at Man Utd.

Now, former Premier League manager Sam Allardyce has backed Chelsea to “sell at the right price”, with Man Utd tipped to pull off the “big signing” on one condition.

“Chelsea will always sell at the right price, so it’s whether Manchester United have the money that they’d want for him Cole Palmer,” Allardyce said on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.

“It would be a big signing for United. He’s only 23 years old, so they’d get a good seven or eight years from him, maybe more if he looks after himself.

“He’s a particular talent who shone from day one at Chelsea. There has been a bit of a lull because of his injuries, but he’ll get back to the level he was at sooner rather than later.

“He’s a tremendous talent, but I do think Chelsea are always in a position to make profit off a player.”

Allardyce has also explained why he does not think Chelsea will qualify for the Champions League ahead of next season.

“Arsenal and Manchester City will be the top two. Then I’d go with Aston Villa, Liverpool and Man United,” Allardyce added.

“Michael Carrick has got United buzzing and they’ve got no other distractions. Their only target is the Premier League. They have time to do all the coaching, rest, nutrition and psychology they want to do and build the players up for the next weekend.

“They’ll have more time off in the week for coaching and focusing on the next game, and of they’ll obviously recover quicker. They’ll have more energy physically and mentally. They should have a better chance than some of the other teams who are up there.”