Paul Scholes was among the finest English midfielders of his generation, a one-club servant of Manchester United whose passing range and instinct for space set him apart. A graduate of the club’s celebrated youth crop of the early 1990s, he could ping a diagonal ball across the pitch with either foot and time a late run into the box like a natural goalscorer.
Deployed first as a supporting forward and later as a deep-lying orchestrator, he was central to a long era of dominance at Old Trafford, winning a succession of Premier League titles and two European Cups, including the treble of 1999. Understated to the point of shyness away from the pitch, he was admired by peers and rivals alike as a footballer’s footballer, his craft undimmed even in his final seasons.