DO GIGGS AND SCHOLES DESERVE STATUES AT OLD TRAFFORD?

Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown believes that club legends Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes could one day be honoured with their own statues at Old Trafford.

The 'Class of '92' stars were mentioned during a discussion on Wednesday's MUTV Group Chat, after host Stewart Gardner asked whether any modern-day Reds deserved a tribute akin to the 'Holy Trinity' statue which celebrates Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law.

The debate arose following news that departing Manchester City hero David Silva is to be honoured in that fashion at the Etihad Stadium, after making 436 appearances for the club during a 10-year spell.

“I think that will happen some day, especially with players like Scholesy, Ryan Giggs,” said the pair's former team-mate Brown. “They're probably the next two that you've got to look at – if anyone was looking at it. But they definitely deserve something.

“But you know, Sir Bobby and Denis Law and George Best, it took a while for them to get a statue. I think that's what's nice about it.”

Fellow ex-Red Ben Thornley said that, while Scholes was maybe a superior player, he felt Giggs was the outstanding candidate for any special recognition, after 963 United appearances and 13 top-flight titles.

“Scholesy, for me, has been the best player in the Premier League, and obviously we've all at some stage of our careers have played with him, so we all know what he's like,” eulogised the Academy graduate.

“I think if I had to choose one, though, it'd probably be choose Giggsy. Purely and simply because he stayed at the club all his career, he's made a record number of appearances, he's the one person that has won more than anybody else. He's had a glittering career, and for that reason alone I don't think it'll ever be surpassed. So if I had to choose one person, and one person only, it would probably be Ryan.”

Danny Webber noted that time was the most important factor when commissioning a permanent tribute, such as the Holy Trinity statue, or the busts of Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson that adorn our stadium.

“It tells a tale of both clubs though,” said Webber of City's planned Silva tribute. “The likes of Liverpool would have [Bill] Shankly and so on, and United has that era [of Best, Law and Charlton].

“It takes a while, and those names travel through decades, and I just think City's new era has been obviously David Silva, [Vincent] Kompany and [Sergio] Aguero, and I think they're paying tribute to this era rather than past eras, where we've definitely got more legends and more history at this football club.”

Eric Cantona and Wayne Rooney were among the other names mentioned, while Gardner also suggested that the 'Class of '92', as a whole, or the Treble team could be honoured. But Webber said the Reds have had so many outstanding players, that the club needed to be selective.

“I think the fact that you can name all these names shows how successful we've been,” he explained. “Every one of them, you go: 'well, yeah, you could stake a claim as to why there would be a statue for them, 100 per cent'.”

“We're talking about special players,” agreed Brown. “It's a tough one. You can't be throwing statues about all the time can you, though?”