Man Utd accused of 'p*ssing off everybody' in hunt for new players and staff under Sir Jim Ratcliffe as club legend tells Red Devils to be more like bitter rivals Liverpool

The criticism from Andy Cole comes amidst concerns that the club's aggressive approach to signing new players and key personnel in the sporting structure may be alienating potential targets and damaging their reputation. They have already snatched Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth from Manchester City and Newcastle respectively to fill in as the new CEO and sporting director, with Southampton’s Jason Wilcox being speculated to be the next technical director. Cole believes that the manner in which United are conducting their business are from its esteemed principles.

Speaking to Betfred, Cole said: "Manchester United are interested in everybody. There’s talk about Jason Wilcox and Dan Ashworth coming in and at the moment, it seems as if Manchester United are p*ssing off a lot of clubs. That’s not what the club is all about.

“Manchester United are a classy outfit and there’s no point in them p*ssing other clubs off because they may need them later down the road. They should go about their business in the right way and I see them linked with some many players or staff and I just think to myself: 'Come on man, this is Manchester United'. At this present moment in time, it just seems as if we’re p*ssing everybody off and that’s not good."

Further comparing the Red Devils to eternal rivals Liverpool, Cole added: "You don’t hear about Real Madrid p*ssing everybody off or Barcelona p*ssing everybody off or Liverpool p*ssing everybody off. Everybody has this fixation about Manchester United, but everything you hear about them isn’t good news and there’s a big cloud over the club at the moment.”

United have struggled to find their rhythm this season and are languishing in sixth place in the Premier League table - 11 points behind fifth-placed Aston Villa. They have suffered the most number of defeats (12) - along with Newcastle - among the teams in the top half of the table and there are serious question marks on the future of Erik ten Hag.

However, Cole believes that it is not right to single out the manager for the misfortunes and added: "You can’t just blame the manager without blaming the players as well. Accountability has to sit on both sides. Accountability will ultimately have to sit with the manager because they’re responsible for buying the players and picking the team, but once you pick a team and they cross the white line, then for the first 45 minutes, as a manager, there’s not a lot you can do and the players have to work it out themselves. Against Brentford they could have conceded five, against Chelsea they conceded four and against Liverpool they could have conceded five, so everybody needs to take a look at themselves.”

United will be back in action on Saturday against Bournemouth in their next Premier League fixture. They will then take on Coventry in the FA Cup on April 21.