Gary Neville thinks Cole Palmer is rubbing it in to Manchester United while at Chelsea

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Chelsea’s man of the hour is performing at a level that is matched by very few in world football right now.

Cole Palmer is the talk of the town in the Premier League, with many pundits agreeing that he is currently the best player in England.

His recent four-goal display against Brighton pretty much carried Chelsea to all three points, something that has not felt rare since he joined the club a year ago.

• READ MORE: Ben Foster says how much it would cost clubs to sign Cole Palmer from Chelsea

The Blues will just be counting their lucky stars that they were able to secure him on such a long contract after signing him from Manchester City, with that even being extended by another year this season.

It seems well known at this stage that Palmer was a boyhood Manchester United fan despite playing for the blue side of the City, and a number of their fans would absolutely love to have him right now.

Neville thinks Palmer is rubbing it in to Manchester United

Gary Neville seems to have accepted that this is not a possibility, and joked that his brilliant performances right now are only rubbing salt in the wounds.

He told The Overlap: “I mean, seriously. He [Cole Palmer] plays for Manchester City as a kid, he supports Manchester United, then he goes to Chelsea and starts scoring 3000 goals and signs a 42-year contract so we can’t even get him back! That just rubs salt into the wounds.

“Palmer has an unbelievable understanding of the game, unbelievable technical ability and the composure in front of goal. When you put those three together, that’s really, really special. And you cannot believe right now, sat here how Man City have got that one so wrong.”

Joao Felix to start in place of Palmer

Chelsea will need to find a way to win without Palmer tonight as they get their Conference League campaign underway tonight at Stamford Bridge.

He will be one of the players unavailable for the entire group stage of the competition, with Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana also missing.

It is likely that Joao Felix starts in his place. He has impressed when he has played since returning to Chelsea, but been forced to wait patiently for those opportunities behind Palmer.