Manchester United legend Andy Cole has urged his former club to forget about Frenkie de Jong and not resurrect a move to sign the Netherlands international.
De Jong was the subject of intense interest from United last summer, with the club spending over 100 days trying to convince the player to join the Reds from Barcelona.
De Jong was identified as Erik ten Hag’s prime target in his first transfer window but eventually, the club accepted that it was not going to happen and moved on to approach alternatives instead.
Casemiro joined the club with just days remaining on the summer transfer window and since then, the Brazil international has left a profound impression on United supporters.
The initial disappointment of missing out on the club’s prime target was almost immediately forgotten about as Casemiro emerged to remind fans of what they had been missing.
Now, speaking ahead of United’s return to football this weekend following the end of this month’s set of international fixtures, former striker Cole has urged the club to forget about De Jong.
“I look at it from the outside, is Frenkie de Jong the midfield player that could do a job for Manchester United? No, he’s not,” Cole told King Casino Bonus, via Football365.
“De Jong is a very good player and there is no disputing that, but if you look at last season’s transfer saga and you have to wonder why would Manchester United want to put themselves in that position again?
“They need to go for players who actually want to come to the club like Casemiro did.
“Going in for De Jong again makes them look desperate, this is Manchester United football club we’re talking about here, if you don’t want to play for them then move on to your next option.
“It’s not like Manchester United is a non-league football club, the answer to the move should be yes or no, not a maybe.”
That suggestion has been proven wrong and quite clearly, Ten Hag is a man very much in control of everything going on behind the scenes.
De Jong may be targetted again this summer but as Cole points out, it would be unnecessarily dramatic to put themselves through that kind of saga once more. That saga last summer was tedious and predictable.
