Steven Gerrard has said former England teammate Paul Scholes would be ‘hands down’ the best midfielder if he played in the current Premier League.
Gerrard played alongside Scholes with the England national team, while the two were also rivals during their club careers at Liverpool and Manchester United respectively.
Comparisons between the Premier League greats are common, but Gerrard believes there would only be one winner if the two played in the modern game.
“He would have everyone terrorised in the Premier League right now. I’m telling you now, he would have everyone terrorised,” Gerrard told the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.
“He’d be the best midfielder in the Premier League right now, hands down. Could I be the Steven Gerrard that played in our generation? Could that be now? I’m not sure. I’d have to adapt and I think it would take a lot away from my style. I think Scholesy now, hands down, would be the best midfielder in the Premier League. Fact.
“Scholesy, for me, was very much an in possession controller of a midfield, controller of a game. Can switch the play. You get close to him, he can pop it round you, can play with the outside of his foot, score important goals, make the last pass.
“Scholesy’s thing, for me, was you can you get him doing the other side of the game. Can you take him the other way? Can you be physical with him? He’ll get booked against you.
“These type of things you could maybe try and get the better of him the other way. But I’m not sure in today’s game you could leave one on Scholesy.”
