Chelsea talisman and former Manchester City academy graduate Cole Palmer has revealed he grew up idolising Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney.

Palmer was raised in the Manchester suburb of Wythenshawe and his family still live in the area. Despite joining City’s youth setup as an eight-year-old, the prodigious playmaker was a United fan.

Gaining an appreciation of the sport towards the end of Sir Alex Ferguson’s trophy-laden reign, Palmer’s attention was captured by Rooney in particular. The England international remains United’s all-time top scorer, rattling in 253 goals during his 13 years in Manchester.

Rooney’s memorable strikes always stuck with Palmer. “If he’d scored a goal on the weekend, I would go out and see if I could do it,” the Chelsea forward remembered in a recent interview with The Telegraph.

The unwitting regulars at Wythenshawe’s Power League was subjected to Palmer’s Rooney recreations as recently as a year before he broke into City’s treble-winning team.

Palmer was afforded just two Premier League starts during his final season at the Etihad before sealing a move to Chelsea in 2023 which almost never happened.

The England international may have needed some persuading to join Chelsea, but he was retrospectively pleased to get away. “It was good to get out of the comfort zone,” Palmer reflected. “Manchester was same old, same old. So something fresh was needed, I think.”

Adaptation to life at Chelsea on the pitch has been seamless. Only City’s Erling Haaland outscored Palmer in the Premier League last season and the 22-year-old has already rattled in seven goals this term.

The cultural change to living in London has been more of a process. “Manchester’s better,” Palmer admitted, “but I don’t mind it. I do like it around here, because it’s quiet, there are no distractions. Everyone you would go out with on a day-to-day basis is nowhere near you.”

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