One of the greatest midfielders to ever grace the beautiful game, Scholes commanded respect from his teammates and opponents alike.

 A fantastic example for any young player, he never looked for the limelight and infamously shied away from media attention, rarely seen delivering the briefest of interviews.

Part of the new wave of talent emerging in the mid-1990s, which saw Giggs, Butt, the Neville brothers and Beckham burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion, Salford-born Scholes made his debut for United against Port Vale in the League Cup in 1994/95 and never looked back.

“I have no hesitation in putting a name to the embodiment of all that I think is best about football. It’s Paul Scholes. In so many ways, Scholes is my favourite” – Sir Bobby Charlton

Among his greatest attributes were his immaculate first touch, unmatched vision, incredible passing ability and a thunderous strike of the ball which can be unleashed at any moment. As for his defensive work and tackling, Scholes was always humorously teased for his weakness in that area, but he overtly made up for that with his offensive capabilities. A misplaced Scholes pass is a bit of a collector’s item!

“No celebrity bullshit – no self-promotion. He’s an amazingly gifted player who remained an unaffected human being” – Roy Keane

“At La Masia (FC Barcelona’s youth academy) his name was mentioned a lot. He’s a role model. An inspiration.” Here Lionel Messi describes how the top coaches in the world use Scholes as an example of what their young players should strive for. Spanish and Barcelona midfielder, Xavi Hernandez often spoke of his admiration for Scholes and also harboured a desire to play alongside him.

Roy Keane and Paul Scholes famously missed out on the 1999 European Cup Final due to suspension, after moving mountains to help put their team in contention for Europe’s most prestigious title throughout that campaign. Missing out on that Champions League final against Bayern Munich was undoubtedly a heavy blow to take, wondering if he would ever get the chance to play in one again.

“My toughest opponent? Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder” – Zinedine Zidane

9 years later, Scholes was the catalyst for United’s success in 2008 when he delivered a phenomenal display against Barcelona in the semi-finals, beating the Spaniards at their own passing game and topping it off with a phenomenal outside-of-the-foot strike from 30 yards, which proved to be the only goal of the two ties, sending the Reds to Moscow, where they claimed their third European title.

He will forever be known as the man who hung up his boots twice! With his playing days now officially and definitively behind him, praise has been flowing in from the true legends of the game, which speaks volumes for the Manchester United number 18, which he fashioned for the majority of his career at Old Trafford.

“If he was playing with me, I would have scored so many more” – Pele

Boasting 718 appearances for his beloved Manchester United with a total of 155 goals for his club, and 66 appearances with 16 goals for his country, England should only be sorry that, arguably their best player of his generation did not feature again at international level beyond Euro 2004.

Do yourself a favour and take 6 minutes time-out to watch the above video which offers a fantastic emotional tribute to the Manchester United legend, and true masterclass of the beautiful art that is football.