Sir Alex Ferguson certainly had a good eye for talent spotting. To put it simply, there's no way you win a record 13 Premier League titles without knowing how to build a strong squad.
Across his time at Manchester United, the legendary manager worked with some of the best players in the club's long history. The likes of Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Wayne Rooney, Eric Cantona and so many others shone at Old Trafford with Sir Alex calling the shots.
Out of all the iconic footballers he coached, however, Ferguson felt as though one could be described as 'the absolute perfect player.'
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Paul Scholes belongs in any conversation when it comes to talking about Manchester United greats. For some, he is the best midfielder the Premier League has ever seen. With 499 Appearances, 107 goals, 55 assists and 11 titles, it's certainly hard to look much further than the Englishman.
Ferguson has certainly never been shy about lauding the talents of his former player either. Speaking in 2018, he praised Scholes in no uncertain terms, saying: “When he joined us as a little runt of a lad at 13 years of age he was about four foot 10 or something and we had great doubts whether he’d grow.
“Fortunately he did and he became the player we all saw. Over 718 games and 155 goals, absolutely fantastic career." He added:
“He was the absolute perfect player and no matter how many great players we have had in the past at Manchester United Paul sits in the great pantheon of those players there is no question about that."
“And I had read one or two bits by former players, Xavi, Iniesta, Pirlo and they all recognise him as the best English player of all time and that is some accolade that."
Xavi Felt Scholes Was a 'Spectacular Player'
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When it comes to iconic midfielders of the past, Scholes certainly deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and Andrea Pirlo. Speaking in 2011, Xavi revealed that the Englishman has a great reputation in Spain. He recalled:
"In the last 15 to 20 years the best central midfielder that I have seen — the most complete — is Scholes. I have spoken with Xabi Alonso about this many times. Scholes is a spectacular player who has everything."
He then added: "He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesn’t give possession away. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more."
The only blot on Scholes' career will be that he perhaps never quite shone for the Three Lions as he did for Man Utd. That said, he wasn't alone in that, with the likes of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, fellow midfielders who failed to truly deliver the goods for England's Golden Generation.