“Absolute joke” – Andy Cole praises Man United star despite blasting ‘tasteless’ transfer

Andy Cole has sung the praises of Manchester United goalkeeper André Onana despite previously disagreeing on the way David de Gea’s exit was handled beforehand.

Onana, 27, had difficulties adjusting to United and the Premier League after signing from Inter Milan last summer. He replaced De Gea, who had been at Old Trafford for over a decade.

Speaking earlier this season, United legend Andy Cole addressed Onana’s errors and the “tasteless” way that his former club dealt with De Gea’s exit.

“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,” said Cole of Onana.

“De Gea was absolutely unbelievable for Manchester United,” he added. “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.”

Onana’s troubles often came in the Champions League, with his mistakes being a major factor in Erik ten Hag’s side crashing out of the competition in the group stage.

However, his performances in the league, especially in recent months, have been promising and show that he could have a longer-term future at the club.

United are also conceding more chances than ever. Onana has always been in possession dominant teams who do not concede many chances.

His distribution has been labelled as a “joke” by Cole following the Manchester Derby, where Onana’s long kick to Bruno Fernandes led to Marcus Rashford’s goal.

The ex-striker also believed that Onana kept the scoreline relatively modest at the Etihad Stadium despite conceding three goals.

“Against Manchester City, he was doing what all goalkeepers should do. He produced saves when he had to and his distribution is an absolute joke,” Cole told BetFred.

“When you look at his recent performances, they’ve been really positive. On Sunday, he didn’t have a chance with any of the goals he conceded and his performance was really, really good and he kept it down to three.

“He’s doing his job and that’s really positive for himself and Manchester United.”