Rumours have often linked Paul Scholes with a move to his hometown club, Oldham, when he is no longer good enough for Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson reckons after two decades at the top there is no way Scholes will be going down to League One to play.

“I don’t think this is Paul’s last season,” said Ferguson. “What else has he got? He’s a football man. He isn’t going to drop down through the leagues, I’m sure of that. “Once you’ve played for United for as long as he has – almost 20 years, Christ – what else are you going to do? I’ve read stuff about him going to play for Oldham in his last year. No chance. It’s difficult to say, but at the moment we’re seeing the fresh Scholesy. But it’s only September. We’ll have to look at the season as a whole and see what happens. He won’t be playing the entire season, but that’s why we’ve got a squad of players. He’ll miss more than he plays, but if I can get 25 games out of him at the level we saw against Spurs and Besiktas, we’ll be delighted with that. I don’t think this will be his last season, not the way he plays. He’s not the type that bursts into the penalty box these days, is he?”