Man United legend Andy Cole criticised Mikel Arteta of 'mugging off' one of his Arsenal stars, despite the Gunners sitting top of the Premier League table.

It's been a majestic season for the Gunners who have gone toe-to-toe with reigning champions Manchester City and chasing Liverpool, while they are also set for a second-leg quarter-final Champions League clash against Bayern Munich.

The Spaniard prepared his squad for a second crack at the English top-flight title - after falling short last season - with further reinforcements in the summer, and one player has become a regular benchwarmer as a result.

David Raya's installation as Arsenal's number one goalkeeper has proved to be a good choice, but has resulted in Aaron Ramsdale's playing time being severely impacted.

Ramsdale made 41 appearances last season but has featured on just 11 occasions this season due to Arteta's preference to play Raya between the sticks.

Former England star Andy Cole criticised Mikel Arteta of 'mugging off' one of his Arsenal stars

The Gunners are top of the Premier League and are in the Champions League quarter-finals

Man United legend, Cole, fumed over Arteta's treatment of goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale

United icon Cole fumed over Ramsdale's treatment and advised the 25-year-old to consider leaving the club in the summer. 

‘Nine times out of ten, when a player moves to a different club, they’re meant to be their new club’s number one centre-forward, centre-half, goalkeeper or whatever it may be,’ Cole told Betfred.

‘If Aaron makes the move, he will be Newcastle’s number one goalkeeper.

Ramsdale has been largely relegated to the bench by the installation of David Raya (left)

Cole suggested to Ramsdale that he should consider leaving Arsenal in the summer

‘I think he’s been hard done by, I really do. He was so good for Arsenal last season and then all of a sudden, Mikel Arteta has gone out and got a new goalkeeper and initially claimed that he had two number ones, which was complete nonsense from day one,' he added.

‘The way he’s disregarded Ramsdale has been really disrespectful. He’s mugged him off basically.

‘I like how he goes about his business and he deserves to be treated with a bit more respect, so if he does move on from Arsenal, then he certainly would do a good job at Newcastle,' he said.