Andy Cole "couldn't give a f***" about Erling Haaland breaking his Premier League goal record

Manchester United legend Andy Cole issued a blunt response to seeing his long-standing Premier League goalscoring record smashed by Erling Haaland.

Cole managed 34 goals in the 1993-94 season for Newcastle - a tally which was matched by fellow Magpies striker Alan Shearer the following year.

Until now, no one has been able to surpass the pair's record which has stood for 28 years.

However, along came Haaland, who has broken almost every record in the book during his first ever season in England.

The 6ft 4in Norwegian netted 36 goals in 35 Premier League appearances for Manchester City, breaking the record with three games to spare.

While the 22-year-old has a jaw-dropping 52 goals in 51 matches across all competitions this term.

However, Cole "couldn't give a f***" about losing his status, claiming that Haaland did it in a "team that creates chance after chance".

When quizzed by the Mail on how it feels to see his achievement eclipsed, Cole said: "I couldn’t give a f***.

"I’m being honest. I'm 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*ssed.

"But people say I must be disappointed. Why? Because someone scored more 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.

Cole scored his 34 goals in 40 appearances at a time when the Premier League included 22 clubs, meaning there would be 42 games in a campaign.

Meanwhile, Shearer took the full 42 matches to bag his 34 goals during 1994-95, making Haaland's achievement all the more impressive.

The former Borussia Dortmund striker has also become the first player to ever win the Premier League's Player and Young Player of the Year awards in the same season.

While he picked up the Football Writer's award earlier this month.

Upon receiving the prize, he told the FWA: "I feel good, it's a special moment.

"I expected to do good things but, to do this, I didn't expect."