Scholes Prefers Modric Over Sneijder & Nasri

An epic hunt began once a 36 year-old Paul Scholes informed Sir Alex Ferguson of his plans to retire from football. Manchester United would be the hunters, and Inter Milan, Tottenham and Arsenal were the targeted prey.

They would be the prey because one particular player in each of those sides looked extremely attractive for United, with Ferguson desiring one of the following players; Wesley Sneijder, Luka Modric or Samir Nasri. Out of all of the central midfielder’s around the world, these three were seen as the realistic targets that Manchester United could possibly persuade to jump aboard.

We are now a few weeks away from the end of the transfer window, and the hunt is still unfinished. United remain hungry for a midfielder, and according to the clubs Chief Executive David Gill, whence they return from the USA, they may be ready to pounce.

But what does Paul Scholes think? The legend of the art of passing the ball around the pitch has had plenty of time to reflect, with no pre-season football to worry about or tire over. Who would he like United to sink their sure and sharp teeth into? (I’ll stop the animal metaphors soon, I promise.)

The former United midfielder told the Manchester Evening News that all of the players Manchester United have been linked to look like they have the qualities to make it at Old Trafford, but that out of the three, Luka Modric is his favourite:

“The ones who have been linked all look like they are capable of playing for United.”

“The three linked the most with United are all great top players. Of the three Modric, when we’ve played against him, has been the one I have been most impressed with.”

“Whenever we played Tottenham, he was the one who stood out.”

Modric seems dead set on a move to Chelsea, despite Tottenham’s defiant stance that selling their prized possession is not an option. If they did sell however, it would be for a fee of at least £35 million.

It is understandable that Modric is Scholes’s favourite – they both have rather similar styles of passing and moving, both being extremely steady and skill-full in possession with all the technique any footballer would possibly want. He is seen by many as a natural replacement for Paul Scholes, but Scholes himself doesn’t even think there is actually any need to replace him. Being extremely modest, Scholes said:

“I don’t think it is a big deal really replacing me because I haven’t been the type of player people are talking about for the last four or five years. I haven’t been scoring goals or been the main playmaker in the team for a while. I don’t think I actually need replacing in that way at all.”

“I wasn’t pulling the strings anymore, definitely in the last two years and probably even since I was 31-32. I haven’t been as prominent in the side. I wasn’t scoring the goals and I wasn’t making the goals.”

“I think people are obsessed with having to replace me. If you look at the facts over the last couple of years, I haven’t played in the big games, so I don’t think there is that much that needs replacing!”

“I think when people are talking about replacing Paul Scholes they are talking about replacing the Paul Scholes of five years ago. I was more prominent then. Because I wasn’t contributing as much any more was part of the reason why I retired. My contribution wasn’t enough for a Man United midfielder.”

I suppose Scholes knows best, but he really is underplaying his contribution here. He may not have been a prominent in the side as he was earlier in his career, but he certainly made a difference in games, and for that he will be missed greatly. For that, Manchester United do need a replacement.