Darren Fletcher has sung the praises of Paul Scholes, following renewed interest in the 35-year-old since scoring the winner against City at the weekend.

“If the manager could have clones of players then Scholesy would definitely be one of them,” said Fletcher. “Paul is phenomenal. He is an inspiration to every player at this club. He is a legend and a real benchmark. I don’t think we will ever see another one like Paul Scholes. He is not interested in the modern-day footballer’s life off the pitch, but is a world-class player on the pitch. I have watched him all the time in my United career. I study his movement, the way he controls the game, his switches of play. He is the complete midfielder.”

Scholes has recently signed a year long contract extension with the club so will be a Manchester United player until he is 36-years-old at least. Fletch has gone on to look at the changes in Scholes as the years have gone by.

“He has adapted his style as he has got older,” he continued. “Back in the day, nobody could touch him when it came to a goalscoring midfielder. He’d bomb on to try to get a goal like he did on Saturday. Back then it was a regular occurrence. Nowadays he is like a deep lying quarterback the way he controls the tempo of the game. He has adapted his style as he has got older. I have watched all the midfielders here like Roy Keane, Nicky Butt, Giggs, David Beckham and Paul. They all had great qualities. Paul’s late runs into the box are an aspect of his game that I have tried to get into my game. The last couple of seasons especially I have tried to get myself more goalscoring opportunities like he does. The way he makes angles for the defenders so he can get on the ball and start the tempo and play is great. He is the benchmark for things like that.”