Boss: Scholes Can Continue

Sir Alex has described Paul Scholes as Manchester United's Xavi as he feels the 37-year-old could carry on playing next term if he continues his splendid form.

The veteran midfielder came out of retirement this season and looks as fresh as ever, producing another influential performance for the entire 90 minutes against Liverpool last weekend.

There has been a clamour for the unassuming star to stay on for another season and also to play for England at Euro 2012, although the boss doesn't think there's any chance of that happening.

"It's hard to describe Scholes," stated Sir Alex at the press conference in Amsterdam ahead of the Europa League tie with Ajax. "Honestly, on Saturday, he was unbelievable.

"I told Paul at the time he could play 25 to 30 games this season and he said that wasn't enough. He decided to retire after that - he didn't want to go from being a top player who's in the team all the time to a player playing only 25 games a season.

"He was approaching 37 years of age and it's difficult for players to do that at the top level. I was honest with Paul, though, and I told him that if I got 25 games of quality from him, I'd be delighted. When he decided to come back I saw no negatives. I was delighted.

"There couldn't be a negative attached to it because he was training really hard in the couple of months before that. He'd realised he'd made a mistake. He's come back refreshed and enthusiastic and his normal self in terms of his training performances.

"It's been an amazing turnabout for us in the sense of the order and class he brings to the team. Barcelona talk about Xavi in the same way we talk about Scholes."

As regards any international recall for England, Sir Alex is far from convinced that Scholes will be keen to play through the summer.

"His reason for refusing last time [at the World Cup] was that it was late in the day," said the boss. "He felt the players who got them there should be involved. Two years on, to go back to play for England after seven years... it's a big step.

"I haven't spoken to him yet about playing on for us next year. With the form he's showing at the moment, there's no reason to think he couldn't play on."