Thread of 100% fake quotes about Paul Scholes:

Ryan Giggs and the Neville brothers discuss their greatest Manchester United teammates.

Rio Ferdinand: The best player I've played with, I'd probably say Paul Scholes.

Wayne Rooney on TalkSport after Scholes's retirement: He is definitely the best I've played with, and every Manchester United fan will miss him. https://talksport.com/football/premier-league/12655/exclusive-rooney-scholes-best-ive-ever-played/

Berbatov names Scholes in his ultimate 5-a-side of teammates, and says he was the best midfielder in Europe in his prime.

"There's a reason that everybody mentions Scholesy to be one of the best, it is not a coincidence. You can repeat, repeat all the time but it is the truth."

Fabien Barthez highlights Scholes as his best ever teammate in his ultimate XI. He played with Zidane.

"For me he is on the same level as R9. He is Manchester United's greatest player of all time."

Jaap Stam calls Scholes one of the most underrated players in the world, and says he makes playing football look so easy.

Next to Clarence Seedorf and Roy Keane in his ultimate XI, the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Kaká and Edgar Davids miss out.

Michael Owen calls Scholes an absolute genius, and a centre forward's dream.

"Any footballer you ask will always say Scholesy was one of the best players that they have ever played with."

Anderson: "Scholes is the kind of player you never forget. He is one of the best players I've seen in my life."

Foster: "Scholes is the best player I've ever seen live."

Cleverley: "He was just 2 or 3 steps ahead of everything, he would never misplace a pass. He was the best striker of a football I've ever, ever seen."

Foster: "Anybody that played with him knows how special he was."

More players calling Scholes their greatest Manchester United teammate: Edwin van der Sar, Louis Saha, Danny Simpson.

...and Diego Forlán.

...as well as England teammate Kieron Dyer.

Not just teammates: Thierry Henry says that Paul Scholes is the player he wishes he could've played with, and was better than Steven Gerrard.

Patrick Vieira: Scholes was for me the best English player I ever played against. He can do everything.

More on social media:

• Kroos: Scholes is better than Gerrard & Lampard

• Piqué: One of the best players I've ever seen

• Barton: The best I played against by a mile

• Southgate: The most gifted English player of his generation

• Carrick: The best midfielder of his time

In a discussion of his autobiography, Sven-Göran Eriksson says that Paul Scholes was the best of England's midfielders, but was more suited to playing on the left than Gerrard or Lampard.

Ferguson's autobiography:

"People would ask me to pick my best Man United team. You couldn't leave out Scholes"

"Scholes was probably the best English midfielder since Bobby Charlton"

"I heard a presenter say that Gascoigne, Lampard and Gerrard were better. Absolute nonsense"

Xavi: Paul Scholes is a role model. He's the best central midfielder I've seen in the last 15-20 years. If he was Spanish he'd be rated higher.

This quote comes from an interview with the Guardian in February 2011. Xabi Alonso is also a fan. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2011/feb/11/xavi-barcelona-spain-interview

Andrea Pirlo: Scholes is the truly great English midfielder of his generation.

I've seen this cited from Pirlo's autobiography, but it's actually from a 2015 interview with the Daily Mail, in which he named Scholes in his "Champions League dream team". https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2916940/Lionel-Messi-Xavi-Kaka-Paul-Scholes-legends-Andrea-Pirlo-s-Champions-League-dream-team.html

Pep Guardiola: Scholes is the best midfielder of his generation, and I would've loved to play alongside him.

This seems to come from a 2011 press conference. Although I can't find footage, here's GOAL's transcription plus acknowledgement from Barcelona. https://www.goal.com/en/news/1716/champions-league/2011/05/20/2495489/pep-guardiola-manchester-uniteds-paul-scholes-is-the-best-of-his-

Alan Shearer: Paul Scholes has been the best midfielder in the Premier League by a mile.

This quote is from a 2007 interview with Newcastle paper the Chronicle, where Shearer added his name to the the list of legends to put Scholes in his ultimate XI. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/my-all-time-xi-alan-shearer-1505383

Zidane says Scholes is as close to a complete footballer as you can get, and he regrets that he never played with him.

This is from a 2010 interview with the Mirror, and also references a previous occasion where he named Scholes as his toughest opponent. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/zinedine-zidane-admitted-not-playing-3352746.amp

Liverpool legend Alan Hansen calls Paul Scholes one of the top three-to-five players in Premier League history. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8922460.stm

Arjen Robben: I am a big admirer of Paul Scholes, he is one of the best players of his generation.

This is a quote given to the Daily Star when approached for comment on the Sneijder rumours in 2010. https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/robben-sneijder-is-world-class-18221180

Marcello Lippi: Scholes would be one of my first choices for creating a great team. He has great talent, technical ability, mobility, determination and a superb shot.

Said in a 2008 BBC interview, which also references high praise from many other players.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7408010.stm