Cole blasts ‘tasteless’ Man Utd over transfer with the former striker ‘surprised’ by summer signing
Former Manchester United striker Andy Cole thinks the club were “tasteless” in the way handled David de Gea’s departure from Old Trafford.
The Red Devils initially offered the Spaniard a new contract on reduced terms, which De Gea eventually agreed to, only for Man Utd to then withdraw the deal and offer him another new contract for even less money.
In the end De Gea decided to leave Man Utd, and is still a free agent, with the Red Devils spending €55m on the signing of Andre Onana from Champions League finalists Inter Milan.
Onana has not had the best start to life at Man Utd with the stopper making a number of mistakes in his first few months – but Cole thinks the Red Devils need to give him time.
Cole told Betfred: “I myself found it a bit difficult when I first moved to Old Trafford, but it all depends on how you bounce back from that difficult start. I’m very old school when it comes to goalkeepers because I’m happy with them as long as they can stop the ball from going in the back of the net.
“I don’t care if my goalkeepers can do 50 keepie uppies because André’s job is to stop the ball from going in the back of the net. He’s had a difficult start to life at Manchester United, he’s made a few mistakes so far and I’m sure he knows that he should have done better in a couple of situations. Every player deserves time and we just have to see what happens in his upcoming performances.
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“Regarding David de Gea, every player makes mistakes and he was absolutely unbelievable for Manchester United. The way that the club let him go in the summer was rather tasteless and I believe that he should have been shown a lot more respect than he was, but that’s football now.
“You don’t get many pats on the back and when you move on, everybody seems to talk about your mistakes rather than all the great things you did for the club.”
Mason Mount was another big signing at Man Utd in the summer transfer window and Cole was shocked by his arrival.
The former Man Utd striker added: “I was surprised to be honest. It was a very left-field signing in my opinion and it was a move that came from nowhere. The biggest question mark regarding the move was how much they signed him for, because they spent £60 million on a player that only had one year remaining on their contract.
“Large transfer sums are part of the reason why players have so many questions asked about them and Manchester United’s fans in particular always get frustrated with their transfer business because they’re always seemingly paying over the odds for players. As Mason’s performances haven’t been of the standard expected of him so far this season, then he’s going to face a bit of criticism but that’s expected in football.”
Last week there were rumours that some of the Man Utd squad were unhappy with Ten Hag’s management techniques with yet another apparent leak coming out of the club.
On the leaks, Cole continued: “What’s going on at Manchester United is a bit like a soap opera and it’s been like a soap opera for a few years now. Ralf Rangnick was like a prophet when he said that Manchester United needed open heart surgery and the club are currently a long way away from where they need to be.
“I believe that Manchester United were ahead of schedule last season and the start of the current campaign has been very difficult for them. After their success last season, many people were expecting the club to compete this year and instead I think what we’ve seen so far in the current campaign is an indication of where the team’s really at right now. It’s very difficult to see, but it is what it is.”
