Legenda Manchester United Silang Pendapat Soal Transfer Cole Palmer

Rencana transfer Manchester United untuk membidik penyerang Chelsea Cole Palmer memicu perbedaan pandangan di antara dua legenda Setan Merah, Ryan Giggs dan Paul Scholes, menjelang pembukaan bursa transfer musim panas.

Klub asal Old Trafford tersebut dilaporkan ingin memperkuat lini serang mereka demi mengurangi beban kreatif yang selama ini dipikul oleh Bruno Fernandes. Langkah ini diambil meskipun manajemen United telah menghabiskan dana sekitar £200 juta pada musim panas lalu untuk mendatangkan deretan penyerang baru seperti Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo, dan Matheus Cunha.

Mantan gelandang Manchester United, Ryan Giggs, memberikan dukungan penuh terhadap rencana perekrutan Palmer yang dinilainya sangat cocok untuk menambah daya gedor tim.

“Yeah, he would, Manchester lad. Where would he play with obviously Bruno [Fernandes] at No.10? He could play off the right possibly. But yeah, we talk about [Rasmus] Hojlund and [Benjamin] Sesko, it’s only really Bruno who is creating things time and time again.” kata Giggs dalam tayangan YouTube Rio Ferdinand Presents.

Giggs menambahkan bahwa United sangat membutuhkan variasi pemain kreatif di dalam skuad agar tidak ketergantungan pada satu sosok di lini depan.

“What if Bruno has a bad day or he’s injured? You need three or four players in your squad who can make things happen for these players to put the ball in the back of the net.” ujar Giggs.

Sebaliknya, Paul Scholes justru meragukan posisi bermain yang ideal bagi pemuda berusia 24 tahun tersebut jika benar-benar bergabung dengan skuad Setan Merah saat ini.

“I don’t see where he plays for United, that’s the problem,” tutur Scholes saat berbicara kepada talkSPORT.

Scholes menilai kehadiran Bruno Fernandes di Old Trafford akan membuat ruang gerak mantan pemain Manchester City tersebut menjadi terbatas.

“I see him in a similar position to Bruno, look, he’s not going to be as infuential as Bruno has been in this team. Whether you can play him off the right side, cutting in with his left foot then yeah, look, he’s a brilliant footballer, again, he’s gone quiet but everyone at Chelsea has gone quiet, I’m not quite sure what’s happening at that club. As many good players you can get in your team then why not? He’s a match winner on his day.” ucap Scholes.

Scholes justru menyarankan Manchester United untuk memprioritaskan pembenahan di sektor tengah pertahanan dengan membidik gelandang Nottingham Forest, Elliot Anderson.

“I think last summer was probably quite good, they sorted the forward line out, [Benjamin] Sesko is looking good as well, okay, he’s picked up another injury, they might possibly need another forward,” jelas Scholes.

Menurut pengamatan Scholes, lini tengah United terlalu mudah ditembus oleh serangan lawan sehingga membutuhkan dua gelandang bertahan baru yang lebih bertenaga.

“I just think every time I watch United they get attacked through the middle so often, they get overran in that midfield area. Casemiro has had a little bit of a rebirth but he’s never going to have the legs if you’re going to want to compete at the top end of the Premier League. And I also think they need one or two centre-backs who are a little bit more physical. But definitely that area of the pitch, the middle of the pitch, somebody with Kobbie [Mainoo], we know how clever Kobbie is, Kobbie can play the game in his brain, legs aren’t a massive thing for him, as long as you’ve got someone who can play that position really well next to him. I think they might need two of them. You can about Anderson, [Sandro] Tonali, [Adam] Wharton, they might need two of those three, of two top quality midfield players just to go into that area to try to get control of games.” tambah Scholes.

Saat ditanya mengenai prioritas utamanya di bursa transfer, Scholes menegaskan pilihannya pada gelandang muda Inggris yang bersinar bersama Nottingham Forest di Europa League tersebut.

“I think it would. I really liked him when he was at Newcastle. Well, Newcastle had to sell him because of the PSR stuff. But what I’ve seen him of him has been nothing short of brilliant really. What he’s done for Forest has been really good, in the Europa League, he’s still got to go to that next level, he’s done it with England, well, England games are very hard to gauge because I don’t think they’re playing the best competition until they get to the World Cup when those bigger games come and we'll get a better idea. He’ll still have to test himself in the Champions League, but he looks to me like he’d be able to handle it. Absolutely no problem. But as I say, I think one or two will be needed, not just the one. But Anderson and Mainoo, I think I’d be happy with that for the start of next season.” tegas Scholes.

Di sisi lain, rumor kepindahan ini ditanggapi santai oleh Cole Palmer yang mengaku tidak ambil pusing dengan spekulasi media mengenai masa depannya di London.

“Everyone just talks. When I see it I just laugh.” ujar Palmer dalam wawancaranya bersama The Guardian.

Meskipun Manchester merupakan kota kelahirannya, pemain yang mengoleksi sepuluh gol dan tiga asis musim ini tersebut mengaku sudah kerasan tinggal di ibu kota.

“Obviously Manchester is my home. All my family are there, but I don’t miss it. Maybe I’ll miss it if I don’t go for three months or something. But then when I get home I think there’s nothing there for me anyway.” tutur Palmer.

Pemain internasional Inggris itu juga menyatakan optimismenya bahwa Chelsea mampu bersaing memperebutkan trofi bergengsi musim depan asalkan mendatangkan profil pemain yang tepat.

“We want to win now and I think if we add right in the summer we can compete for serious trophies next season. I don’t think we’re far off,” tambah Palmer.

Menurutnya, komposisi skuad The Blues saat ini sudah memiliki modal kualitas yang cukup untuk tampil lebih konsisten di kompetisi mendatang.

“If you sign the right players in the right positions and the right characters and profiles, I think we have more than enough quality to compete and be more consistent than we’ve shown over this season.” kata Palmer.

Manajemen Chelsea sendiri dilaporkan berada dalam posisi negosiasi yang kuat dan menegaskan tidak akan menjual sang pemain mengingat kontraknya baru akan habis pada Juni 2033. Terdekat, Cole Palmer dijadwalkan memperkuat Chelsea melawan Manchester City pada pertandingan final Piala FA di Stadion Wembley hari Sabtu.