Many players came and went during Paul Scholes's Manchester United career, but he has now revealed which footballer's exit from the Red Devils left him "devastated".
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The former England midfielder was a part of the famous class of 1992 at United, coming through the ranks with the likes of David Beckham, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Ryan Giggs.
In a recent interview, Scholes discussed the difficulties of dealing with certain teammates leaving the club at different moments in his career, and admitted that it was Butt's departure in 2004 that impacted him the most.
"It was all part of football. When you start out with those five or six lads, you hope that you'll be there for the next 20 years," he told DAZN.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way. You lose people along the way. Nicky went and Nicky was my best mate – I'd grown up with him since I was 12 or 13. You're devastated, I really was devastated."
Scholes continued by giving credit to Sir Alex Ferguson for seemingly always knowing when it was a player's time to leave United.
"Phil Neville went, Roy Keane went, some really big characters. Look, players have to go, they might come to a certain age where their legs weren't quite what they were.
"The manager knew how to get the best out of those players, whether they'd play 20 games a season, but he always knew when the time was right for them to go.
"Sometimes the player didn't always agree with that but that's what it was all about; changing teams and then the excitement of bringing players in.
"You mention players like Teddy (Sheringham), (Andy) Coley, (Dwight) Yorkey, such brilliant attacking players and (Jaap) Stam – what a top centre-half he was.
"He (Ferguson) had a system and he just tried to replace the top players he had with other top players who were similar in that position. That's why it was such a constant continuation of being a top team."
Click through the gallery below to see some players who were caught lying about their age!
