Featured Image Credit: Getty / TNT Sports
Topics: Manchester United, Paul Scholes, FA Cup
Ryan Smart
Paul Scholes has revealed that a former Manchester United player 'destroyed' him in his first training session after signing for the club.
Scholes spent his entire career at Old Trafford after coming through United's youth system as part of the iconic 'Class of '92'.
A total of 20 years passed between his first senior appearance in 1993 and his last in 2013, with Scholes retiring in 2011 before then reversing his decision a year later.
He made over 700 appearances for United and scored over 150 goals, with the midfielder winning 25 trophies during his time at Old Trafford.
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His longevity meant he saw numerous generations of players come and go, playing alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand.
But one player, Scholes says, 'destroyed' him during his first training session after completing a transfer to the club under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The player in question is winger Andrei Kanchelskis, who signed for United for a fee of £650,000.
Ferguson had been alerted to the player after receiving a VHS tape from Norwegian agent Rune Hauge, who would later play a key role in bringing Peter Schmeichel to Old Trafford.
Kanchelskis, meanwhile, played 34 games as United won the First Division title in 1991/92, and scored 15 goals in his final campaign before leaving for Everton in the summer of 1995.
Speaking in an interview with The Telegraph ahead of the FA Cup clash between Salford City - a club which Scholes co-owns with his 'Class of '92' team-mates and businessman Peter Lim - and Manchester City, Scholes recalled how he was tasked with trying to defend against Kanchelskis as a young 17-year-old.
He explained: "One of my first training sessions I came out, and I was maybe 17, and was asked to play left-back. The club had just signed him [Kanchelskis].
"The first team didn't have a game so he came over. I'm no left-back. We didn't know much about him then. We just knew he was a flying winger.
"He destroyed me! I couldn't live with him!
"We'd be on one pitch, the reserves would be on another pitch and the first team on another. You'd always have a sneaky look when you were with the under-18s and think: 'That's where I want to be, I want to be in Jim Ryan [United reserve boss, 1991-2000]'s team, I want to be in the reserves'."