Cole Palmer brought up Mason Greenwood in brutally honest chat as footage resurfaces

Cole Palmer named Mason Greenwood as one of the top five players he had ever faced on the pitch in footage from 2020 that recently resurfaced on social media. Four years ago, the 22-year-old attacker was a Manchester City hopeful patiently waiting for his opportunity under Pep Guardiola.

Since leaving the Etihad Stadium for Chelsea in a £42.5million deal last summer, Palmer has blossomed into one of Europe’s most dangerous players.

Palmer has scored 36 goals and registered 21 assists in 64 appearances since the start of last season, proving to be a case of ‘the one that got away’ for Guardiola.

The Chelsea talisman made his senior debut for City in September 2020, a 3-0 victory against Burnley at Turf Moor in the Carabao Cup.

In the same year, he took over Rising Ballers’ Instagram account for a brief Q&A, during which he was asked about the best players he had clashed with on the pitch.

One of those he credited was Greenwood, who, at the time, was making headlines after bursting onto the scene at Manchester United.

The 23-year-old debuted in March 2019 and went on to make 129 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 35 goals.

In the midst of Greenwood’s exciting breakthrough, Palmer said: “Mason Greenwood from Man United, Brian Brobbey from Ajax, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Mohamed Ihattaren from PSV and Ansu Fati from Barcelona.”

Greenwood was on a meteoric trajectory before he was arrested and later charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The former United No. 11 denied all charges, and the UK’s Prosecution Service later dropped them due to “a combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses and new material.”

Erik ten Hag and the club’s former football decision-makers were reportedly willing to re-integrate Greenwood in the summer before internal and external backlash forced a U-turn.

However, he would never play for the club again, spending last season on loan at Getafe before completing a £27m switch to Marseille in the summer.

Greenwood has enjoyed an impressive start to life in France, scoring nine goals and providing two assists in his first 13 appearances.

It remains to be seen whether the promising forward would’ve reached the heights that Palmer is currently enjoying if he had stayed at United.

But Alejandro Garnacho and Amad have filled the void Greenwood left in the attack, and the Red Devils have inserted a sell-on clause to profit from a future sale.