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Paul Scholes established himself as a true Manchester United legend across his 21 year career which saw him come through the United academy and hang up his boots at Old Trafford.
Not only a United legend, the former England international is also widely regarded as one of the best midfielders to ever play in the Premier League, something fellow Premier League Hall of Famer Steven Gerrard has also expressed.
Gerrard boldly claimed: “I think [Paul Scholes] now would be the best midfielder in the Premier League.”
He explained: “Scholesy, for me, was very much an in-possession controller of a midfield controller of a game. He can switch the play. You get close and he could pop it round you.
“I’m not sure in today’s game you could leave one on Scholesy, for example. He would have everyone terrorised in the Premier League.
“I’m telling you right now, he would have everyone terrorised in the Premier League now. He’d be the best midfielder in the Premier League, hands down.”
As such, Paul Scholes is well regarded as knowing a thing or two about football, especially what it takes to be a good midfielder.
Now, the former Red Devil has named his top five midfielders in the game right now, including one of United’s long-term targets.
Speaking on an episode of The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, Scholes named this top five as Frenkie de Jong, Alexis Mac Allister, Vitinha, Rodri and Pedri.
The list is an interesting one, leaving out impressive talents such as Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo, Real Madrid’s Jue Bellingham or Arsenal’s Declan Rice.
Instead the 50-year-old opted to include long-term United target de Jong, who The Red Devils have been routinely pursuing since the summer of 2022 when a collapse in the deal saw them ultimately sign Casemiro instead.
Speaking about de Jong, Scholes commented: “I like watching technical players. I thought he was brilliant against Newcastle [in the Champions League].”
However, his highest praise came when discussing Manchester City’s Rodri and Barcelona’s Pedri.
When addressing Rodri’s inclusion in the list, the former England international commented: “He won the Ballon d’Or two years ago. He’s not started the season well, but he’s had that horriffic injury.”
He continued, putting the weight of Manchester City’s recent performances on the midfielder: “He was by far the best midfielder the year he won the Ballon d’Or. I think City are struggling to keep the ball because he’s not up to speed physically yet.”
Then, when discussing Pedri, Scholes gave some of the highest praise possible, saying: “When I was a player, I’d go home and watch Barcelona on Saturday and Real Madrid on Sunday. And I watched Pedri the other night and just thought wow. He was like Xavi and Iniesta in one.”
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