Scholes: Mata Is The Best

Juan Mata’s impressive start to his Manchester United career has not gone unnoticed by a man who made the ‘creator-in-chief’ tag his own during 20 years as a Red.

That man is, of course, Paul Scholes who was as delighted as anybody to see the diminutive forward make the move from Stamford Bridge to Old Trafford, even going as far as to say that, in Mata, United have signed English football's top performer in recent times.

“For the last couple of years Mata has probably been the best player in the league,” Scholes told MUTV and ManUtd.com in an exclusive interview. “We had to pay a lot of money for him and we were very lucky that he wasn’t in Chelsea’s plans, and only we can benefit from him now.

“Hopefully he can have a strong end to the season and he can help us climb the table.”

Although vocal in his praise for the Reds' latest acquisition, the typically bashful Mancunian was keen to dismiss those who have compared Mata with Scholes himself. He also spoke of how, in signing the Spain international, David Moyes has further enhanced an already quality-filled attack with the likes of Mata, Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck all vying for a starting berth.

“I don’t think he’s similar to me. He’s obviously a quality player but he’s not a central-midfielder, he’s a player who likes to play in the number 10 role," added Scholes, who was in Miami last week as part of the launch for Tour 2014, presented by Aon.

“It’s going to be difficult for the manager now as we’ve got five players vying for two positions. That can only be a healthy thing for competition though as the two forwards always need to impress because they know the talent waiting to take their place.”