Joe Cole believes Manchester United should replace David de Gea (Picture: BT Sport)
Joe Cole believes Erik ten Hag must replace David de Gea for Manchester United to ‘kick on to the next level’.
De Gea’s blunder in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham has reignited the debate over his long-term future at Old Trafford.
The Spaniard will be out of contract this summer but Ten Hag has confirmed he wants him to put pen to paper on a new deal and extend his stay at the club.
De Gea has been ever-present at Manchester United for well over a decade, making more than 500 appearances for the club and winning the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League.
But there is a feeling that De Gea, 32, is past his best and not suited to playing Ten Hag’s style of football.
Ex-England midfielder Cole believes De Gea could in fact prevent Manchester United from reaching their full potential under Ten Hag.
‘I think it’s very simple for Manchester United’s recruitment team,’ he told BT Sport.
De Gea made a howler in United’s defeat to West Ham (Picture: Getty)
‘There’s a few teams around you and above you, would any of those teams swap their goalkeepers for David de Gea? No they wouldn’t.
‘So for me it’s very simple. If Manchester United are going to kick on to that next level, that is one of the positions on the pitch they can improve.’
Rio Ferdinand, who played with De Gea for a couple of seasons, has also questioned Manchester United’s No. 1 and says it will soon become apparent if he has a future at the Theatre of Dreams.
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He said: ‘He has made an error there in terms of his shot saving, but I think the question mark about him is has he been good enough with his feet to play the Erik ten Hag way?
‘In terms of shot stopping, yes, he’s made a mistake, but that’s not the area where I question him at all. Is he a good enough footballer to play for Manchester United?
‘The only person that can answer that is Erik ten Hag, and we’ll know at the end of the season.
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‘If he gets a new deal, then Erik ten Hag thinks he’s more than capable of being his number one goalkeeper.
‘We’ll just have to play the waiting game right now and see what the manager says because he’s the one with the definitive answer.’
Manchester United will look to bounce back from successive 1-0 defeats and get their Champions League bid back on track when Wolves visit Old Trafford on Saturday.
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‘For me it’s very simple.’