Andy Cole criticises Man United for signing too many ageing strikers... as Red Devils turn to Atalanta's £60m rated youngster Rasmus Hojlund to fill their attacking void

Andy Cole has criticised Manchester United for signing too many ageing strikers as his old club line up a move for Atalanta’s young gun Rasmus Hojlund.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Odion Ighalo were all in their 30s when they moved to Old Trafford in recent years, with 30-year-old Wout Weghorst the latest to join United on loan in January.

United legend Cole scored 121 goals for the club and formed a deadly partnership with Dwight Yorke at a time when Sir Alex Ferguson could also call on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham. He feels that the club have plugged their attack with too many older stop-gaps in recent years and failed to plan for the future.

United have been linked with Tottenham’s Harry Kane, who turns 30 next week, this summer but are set to sign Hojlund as talks continue over a deal for the 20-year-old Dane.

Cole said: ‘We’re buying older centre-forwards for a hell of a lot of money and then find ourselves in the same position a couple of years later. This is Manchester United – we're better than that.

‘I’m not going to say that if Harry Kane became available for the right money I’d turn him down, obviously not.

‘But I think what Manchester United have been doing for the past five or six years is bringing people in who are in their mid-30s or late 30s for a couple of years, then we do it again the season after and we do it again.

‘That’s why we've found ourselves in this position now. Long-term, we’ve not looked for that young centre-forward who can carry Manchester United on for the next five to 10 years or whatever it may be.

‘That's what Manchester United has been built on – the manager going into a season with three or four strikers.

‘You’re guaranteed what you’re going to get. You might move someone else on, but you’ve got someone at that age who can carry the club forward. For instance, I moved on but Ruud van Nistelrooy was there and went on for many years.’

Cole was speaking in New Jersey where Erik ten Hag’s side are due to kick off their US tour against Arsenal on Saturday night.

Former United captain Bryan Robson agreed that a top striker is the glaring omission in the United squad after the club agreed deals to sign midfielder Mason Mount and goalkeeper Andre Onana.

United will need to sell players to afford Hojlund who would cost in the region of £60m.

‘Everybody connected to the club, everybody within the club, is talking about the fact we need a centre-forward,' said Robson.

‘We need to catch up with Manchester City and even Arsenal – Newcastle score a lot more goals than us.

‘So defensively, we are looking pretty good, but you’ve got to score goals to win games and get up there challenging for the title.

‘We all know that, so hopefully we can get a few people out of the door for decent money and can get the funds that are needed to bring a striker in, because everybody knows we need a striker.’