Manchester United – albeit still smarting from their FA Cup final defeat by Manchester City over the weekend – are expected to be buzzing in the transfer window in the coming weeks with both Tottenham’s ace striker Harry Kane and West Ham midfielder Declan Rice as the prime targets.
Mail Sport reported in April that Three Lions’ skipper Kane tops United’s shortlist with boss Erik ten Hag getting more desperate each day to recruit a new forward to remedy his side’s lack of attacking potency. However, despite that being the situation at hand, they are unwilling to be dragged into a lengthy saga and be at the mercy of feisty Spurs chairman Daniel Levy – with his notorious reputation of being a hardball negotiator.
Kane would cost in the region of £100 million with Real Madrid’s interest in him growing more intense now with the impending departure of Karim Benzema to the Saudi Arabia league.
Rice is also set to move now that the Premier League season has ended and bth these Three Lions international team-mates would, on paper at least, be able to help nudge the Old Trafford club closer to the top spot.
However Cole, a five-time top-flight winner after his tenure at Old Trafford between 1995 and 2001, is adamant even the duo wouldn’t be enough for United to usurp City’s dominance in the league.
“If Harry Kane wants to leave Tottenham and United wants to spend £80m+ on a 29-year-old, soon to be 30, then that’s entirely up to them,” he told BoyleSports.
“For me, United have to make up their mind whether they want to go for more senior players like Casemiro so they can bring success quicker, or they can build for the future. If you buy Kane, you need to replace him in two years’ time.
“United have been doing that for too long now since Robin van Persie came in for two years.
“Look at City when they bought Erling Haaland at 22-years-old, they can keep him for five years and then sell him for a profit while getting the best out of him.”
Cole then turned his crosshairs on United’s targeting of experienced players in their bid to win trophies, insisting the approach will quickly prove detrimental.
“The instant success route of the transfer strategy will catch up with you eventually because you’ll need to replace those older players,” he added.
“If United buy Kane and someone like Declan Rice, they still wouldn’t be able to win the league anyway because the point gap between City is too big.
“Two players can improve your team, but they won’t make you overtake City. Everyone was talking about Arsenal winning the league this season and they folded because City are the better team and have the better squad.”