Andy Cole says 'people need to stop disrespecting my name' after fans compare him to Darwin Nunez

Andy Cole reckons people need to "stop disrespecting my name" after comparisons were made between him and Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez.

The former Manchester United striker, 51, enjoyed a trophy-laden career that included spells at Newcastle, Blackburn, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Sunderland and Nottingham Forest.

He would score 187 goals in 414 Premier League appearances throughout the 90's and 00's, establishing himself as of the greatest strikers in English top flight history.

So after he was compared to former Benfica man Darwin Nunez in recent days, an offended Cole took to Twitter to voice his opinion.

After the comparisons emerged, the former England international wrote: "Cole ... Nunez… not sure we’re this nonsense started. But it’s Christmas the festival season… I am happily retired. 2 FA cups.1 League Cup. 1 Champions League.. golden boot YPOTY. 187 Premier League goals. 1 pen. Life is what you make it."

Soon after the post went viral, a Twitter user explained to Cole that the original tweet was in defence of Nunez rather than criticism towards the former Manchester United striker.

"Hi Andy. Worded original tweet poorly," he said. "You were a top player, should have worded original better. More of a tweet to back Nunez than anything. Please see follow up. (Most 3 big chances missed last season. 1. Kane. 2. Son. 3. Salah). The best 3 strikers."

Cole replied: "Sorry Dave worded wrongly or rightly... people need to stop disrespecting my name because I don’t play the game, just a quiet guy getting on with life people think they can disrespect me. Look at the numbers and compare them to anyone else."

The 51-year-old then reposted a screenshot of from Twitter user @avisualgame, who posted a graphic that showed Cole as the highest scoring U21 in a single season back in 1993/94, when he scored 41 goals.

The tweet was captioned: "Been seeing a lot of discourse around Andy Cole on here recently, and this is perhaps the most impressive list he tops. Insane."

Nunez has scored nine times in 22 games for club and country this season, including a goal on his Premier League debut against Fulham.

Of course, there's plenty of time for the Liverpool striker to go on and become one of the greats, but Cole clearly didn't think a comparison was justified at such an early stage in his career.

Nunez has plenty of admirer out there, including former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler.

"Some people might say he is unorthodox and raw but I think he has proven in the short time he has been at Liverpool that he will be one of those players who will be a fan favourite because he will give you everything," he told the Liverpool Echo.

"OK, at times he can be a little bit cumbersome or clumsy but if he wasn't like that then you'd see a different player.

"He is who he is and will score goals for Liverpool. He can be unorthodox but you know as a defender you're in for a game against him.

"So as a striker you don't pinpoint one area where you can improve, you want to be perfect. You're working on every aspect of your game and you work on your strengths as well and he's got loads of those."