Danny Higginbotham: Devante Cole has definitely inherited his knack of scoring goals from Manchester United legend dad Andrew
I’VE seen Devante Cole play a few times and been very impressed with Fleetwood’s goal-hungry striker.
Devante has definitely inherited a knack for scoring from his dad — ex-Manchester United striker Andrew.
Cole Snr scored 55 goals in 70 games for Newcastle in the early 90s and then 93 in 195 for Manchester United in the late 90s.
He was a machine and a key part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s great Treble-winning team of 1999.
Now his son is clearly cut from the same cloth.
The 22-year-old has notched seven goals in eight starts this season — helping contribute to Fleetwood’s total of 18 overall.
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Devante was on Manchester City’s books as a kid and had loan spells at Barnsley and MK Dons before signing for Bradford in 2015.
At Barnsley he scored five goals in 19 games, three in 14 with MK Dons and five in 19 with Bradford.
He then joined Fleetwood last summer. Cole nearly made a switch to Sheffield United on transfer deadline day but the deal didn’t happen.
Blades boss Chris Wilder was very keen — and clearly believed he could play at Championship level. I couldn’t disagree.
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Factfile: Devante Cole
Age: 22
Born: Alderley Edge, England
Position: Striker
Height: 6ft 1in
Clubs: Man City (2014-15), MK Dons (2014-15, loan), Bradford (2015-16), Fleetwood (2016-present)
Represented England at: U16, U17, U18 & U19.
HIS 2017-18 (LEAGUE ONLY)
Games: 10
Starts: 8
Mins played: 754
Goals: 7
Mins per goal: 108
But what is also impressive in the aftermath of that failed move, which must have been disappointing, is that he’s still scoring.
Cole could have let the frustration of missing out on a move get to him — but instead he got his head down and worked hard.
Cole’s rapid, decent in the air at 6ft 1in and a strong lad, too. Yet it’s his finishing that stands out.
He has represented England at all junior levels and his goals-to-games ratio is impressive, too.
And there’s no reason to think that a move to a higher level is dead. It may even happen in January if he keeps this rate of goalscoring up.
