Being removed from the record books by Erling Haaland's super season doesn't seem to bother Andy Cole - but seeing Man United's treble winning team compared to Pep Guardiola's Man City definitely does.
After signing from Newcastle for a then considered huge fee of £7 million in 1995, Cole scored 121 goals for the Red Devils in a spell that yielded five Premier League titles, two FA Cup wins, and the Champions League. And included amongst it was the 1998/99 campaign that has since gone down in football folklore, with United winning an unprecedented treble.
But it was Cole's 1993/94 campaign with the Toon Army that represented his best as an individual. The former England man struck 34 times, a record previously shared with Alan Shearer until Haaland smashed in 2022/23 - striking 36 times.
Further, the Norwegian's feat came in a 38 game season, whilst Cole and Shearer both had 42 matches to play with. But the 51-year-old is unperturbed about being replaced in the history books: "I couldn't give a f***," he told the Daily Mail. "I'm being honest. I am not anal in any way, shape or form about someone breaking goal-scoring records because records are set to be broken.
"Now, some people might be p***ed. But people say I must be disappointed. Why? Because someone has scored more goals than me? It's taken 20 years for someone to get that close. Am I going to rock myself to sleep and think, Oh God, someone has broken my record? No, I'll take my hat off to him. I'll salute him. He's done it in a team that creates chance after chance. At some stage, your record's going to be broken."
Whilst Cole is seemingly accepting of Haaland's feats, he isn't so diplomatic when it comes to another comparison. Man City, another of his former clubs, lie just two games away from the treble having sealed the Premier League titles, with an FA Cup final against the Red Devils and a Champions League final with Inter Milan to come.
Who is the Premier League's greatest ever striker? Share your predictions in the comments below
And the former striker argues vehemently that the manner in which United achieved their dominance deserves more credit than the big spending City: "The craziest thing is everyone's trying to forget about what Manchester United achieved and the possibility of another team doing it and how this other team is far superior to the United team that actually achieved it," he argued.
Asked if he would back the 1998/99 team to get the better of Guardiola's men, he replied: "Of course, I'm going to sit here and say United. The eras are totally different, too. What you have to look at, too, is out of our '99 team, how many were home-grown talents? Six?
"So, you don't pay £50m, £60m, £70m for these players. If you look at how much money Man City have spent to find themselves in this position. In '99, that couldn't have been done. And because we had so much home-grown talent we didn't have to spend that money."
