Manchester United's Greatest 23-Man Squad Of The Premier League Era

A typical centre midfielder can typically fulfil one of two roles - defensive midfielders tend to sit in front of the defence in order to support the back four, whilst attacking midfielders are tasked with creating chances and getting involved with attacks.

In recent seasons, the position is one that United have struggled to fill properly, but as with other positions, the team had benefitted greatly from the presence of a number of long-tenured players in the middle of the park for most of the Premier League era. These have outlasted a number of notable players ostensibly brought in to encourage competition and bolster the ranks of the squad, including Argentian international Juan Sebastian Veron and notorious flops such as Eric Djemba-Djemba and the Brazilians Kleberson and Anderson.

Though he never seems to appear in many 'greatest' lists, Paul Scholes has consistently been hailed by his fellow professionals, including the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Pep Guardiola and Xavi, as one of, if not the best player they have ever played against. Always eschewing the limelight sought by so many other players, he was a consummate professional from the beginning of his career all the way through to the end of it.

Every minute of said career was spent at United, where Scholes made 499 appearances and scored 107 goals in twenty years in the team, barring the short period between his first retirement in 2011 and his decision to reverse it due to the club's injury crisis just a few months later.