Cole Palmer leaves cryptic transfer message on Man Utd star's Instagram post

What did Cole Palmer’s cryptic comment mean? (Photo: Getty)

Cole Palmer has seemingly backed Chelsea to sign wantaway Manchester United star Kobbie Mainoo with a cryptic message on Instagram.

After being left on the bench for United’s opening two games of the season, Mainoo asked the club if he could leave on loan in order to secure regular playing time.

The midfielder had become a key player for Erik ten Hag and started the Euro 2024 final for England but is yet to fully convince Ruben Amorim.

The transfer request was denied by Amorim, though three Premier League clubs still tried to sign the 20-year-old before transfer deadline day , while Chelsea have a long-standing interest in him.

Mainoo was reportedly unhappy that a move was blocked as he hopes to get back in the Three Lions squad for next year’s World Cup.

On Friday, he appeared to express his displeasure with a cryptic post on Instagram featuring several pictures of himself training and looking reflective, accompanied by the caption: ‘Nothing pretty’.

Among the pictures was a screenshot of Miles Teller’s character from the 2014 film Whiplash, a drummer who struggles to impress his demanding and ill-tempered teacher.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DOOOI8SjGiw/?img_index=1

Fans naturally began to speculate exactly what Mainoo was inferring, with some believing it to be a plea for someone to rescue him from Old Trafford.

That’s certainly what Palmer appears to think, as the Chelsea and England talisman commented on the Instagram post: ‘3 my boy,’ which many have interpreted as shorthand for ‘Free my boy’.

Mainoo’s United contract expires in 2027 and recent reports suggest the Blues are plotting a move for the youngster following the signing of Alejandro Garnacho from the Red Devils over the summer.

Kobbie Mainoo wanted to leave Man Utd on loan over the summer (Photo: Getty)

Palmer and Mainoo are close friends from their time together in the England camp and potentially before that as both were born and raised in Manchester.

Following his initial snub, Mainoo did play the entirety of United’s humiliating Carabao Cup defeat to Grimsby Town and came off the bench at half-time in the 3-2 victory over Burnley last weekend.

He is expected to get more game time in the coming weeks due to injuries to midfielder Mason Mount and forward Matheus Cunha.

Neither Palmer nor Mainoo were called up for England’s World Cup qualifiers in September, the first of which is on Saturday when they face Andorra .

Palmer misses out through injury and when Adam Wharton later pulled out, Mainoo was again overlooked by Thomas Tuchel, who surprisingly recalled Ruben Loftus-Cheek instead.

The young midfielder’s next chance to impress Amorim and co. will be the Manchester derby on September 14, before United host Chelsea six days later.