Mainoo and Palmer bonded over intense games of padel!

Cole Palmer and Kobbie Mainoo forged a friendship over heated games of padel and table tennis but their bond will take a back seat as they attempt to return their clubs to the top.

Chelsea midfielder Palmer and Manchester United’s Mainoo’s fantastic breakout seasons in 2023/24 culminated in the pair playing a big part in England’s run to the UEFA EURO 2024 final in Germany.

Although they grew up a few miles apart, it was in the England camp where they became close and a mutual respect for each other was established, they reveal in an interview with GQ Magazine. 

Other ball sports kept them busy, while maintaining their competitive spirits on and off the court.

“He’s actually good," Palmer says of Mainoo's padel skills. "I’m better at table tennis. He’s better at padel.”

“You don’t believe that?” fires back the United player. “Table tennis?” Withdrawing his compliment, Palmer concludes: “I’d even say [I’m better at] both, but I’ll let you have one.”  

As for having an impact at the Euros, Palmer cedes the ground to Mainoo, who became a starter for Gareth Southgate during the tournament. 

“He knows I think he was the best player at the Euros, and obviously you see what he’s doing for one of the biggest clubs in the world,” Palmer says.

Father Felix, originally from Ghana, and his Manchester-born mum Abena have played a key role in Mainoo's development on and off the pitch, but the Stockport-born player is showing a maturity beyond his tender 19 years off the pitch as well as on.

The driving force behind United’s FA Cup triumph over Manchester City at Wembley in May has recently moved out of his parents’ place and rewarded himself with a first home to call his own.

He’s not home alone, though, with Kodak, his German Shepherd greeting him when he comes in, but it can be a rocky relationship when duty calls. 

"Every time I go home and see him, he's a happy face to come home to,” the midfielder says. “I named him after Kodak Black the rapper. He can get in a bit of a mood with me when I go away, though. I came back from the Euros and he ignored me for a few days!" 

Mainoo credits United for giving him the opportunity to thrive. “I feel like it’s very much in the history that they play young players, going all the way back to the Busby Babes. There’s big writing up on the wall (at United’s Carrington training ground) saying, ‘If they’re good enough, they’re old enough.’

“It’s definitely something I want the most, to see United back on top. That is what pushes me."

Palmer's Caribbean roots

Palmer, 22, was raised in Wythenshawe, in the south of Manchester.

His boots offer a nod to his family, with his grandparents hailing from St. Kitts and Nevis. His grandfather emigrated in 1960, while Palmer's great-grandparents were part of the Windrush generation. He wears the island nation’s flag with pride to honour those ties. 

Palmer's dad Jermaine would teach Palmer how to play and it seems that some of the talent global audiences and Chelsea fans are enjoying were already present at a young age. “He [Dad] messaged me after I scored that chip versus Wolves, saying, ‘You remember practising chips in the park?’ I actually do, to be fair,” he says.

Palmer has given away his Treble season medals and trophies to make room for some more awards he hopes are coming his way in the future.

His Chelsea Player of the Year trophy and the PFA award from last season stay with him after 22 Premier League goals and 11 assists. But he says of his City honours: “I gave them to my mum. I wanted to restock and clear them out so I can stock up again. 

“The feeling you get when you win, you just want it again. You don’t want to stop and never get that feeling again. I knew I could do it, But for it to happen so fast, I surprised myself, yeah.” 

Both players missed out on the latest England camp through injury but the Euros will always bind them.

Palmer replaced Mainoo in the final in Berlin and almost instantly levelled the scores and, even if England would then suffer late heartbreak, that moment of joy united them.

Mainoo says: “I ran to the byline, told Cole to do my celebration as well, which he did. I was gassed!”

Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer will be toasted at the GQ Men of the Year event in partnership with Jo Malone London on 19 November.

Read GQ Magazine's full interview here.

Photography: Dan Martensen