Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs revealed that a “nasty” club legend was the best player he ever played alongside – and it surprisingly wasn’t Roy Keane.
Ryan Giggs spent his entire playing career at Old Trafford and enjoyed incredible silverware success under legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
The 50-year-old, who has broken his silence over a return to management, made a whopping 961 appearances across all competitions for the Red Devils.
Giggs lifted a whopping 13 Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, four FA Cups and four League Cups during his glittering career at Old Trafford.
The Welshman’s club career came to an end in 2014 and Giggs later served as assistant manager at Old Trafford under ex-Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal.
During his 24-year playing career with United’s senior team, Giggs was a key figure in the dressing room and was thought of very highly by his former teammates.
The former Wales manager also shared the pitch with several world-class players, including Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney.
However, Giggs insisted that there was no debate over who was the best player he played alongside in his illustrious United career at Old Trafford.
Giggs names Man Utd legend as ‘best’ he played alongside
Ryan Giggs hailed the impact of Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford and claimed that his fellow Manchester United legend was the overall “best player” he saw at the club.
However, he suggested that Ronaldo was not the outright best player he shared the pitch with in his career, with that honour belonging to someone else.
Despite being known for his no-nonsense approach and cold demeanour, United legend Roy Keane was not the “nasty” player that Giggs surprisingly picked out.
Giggs revealed that Paul Scholes had a “nasty” side to him and the legendary former midfielder was the best player he played alongside ahead of Ronaldo and Keane.
Speaking to the MUTV Group Chat in 2020 (as per Manchester United’s official website), he said: “The best player is Cristiano.
“But obviously he was only with us for a short space of time, when he was brilliant, and then went on to do just as well as he did at United elsewhere.
“But Scholesy [Paul Scholes] is the best player I played with at United. You’ve all seen him.
“In training, he was ridiculous, you couldn’t get near him. His brain was quicker than everyone else, his range of passing and he was nasty!
“If someone had taken the mickey out of him, it was logged in the brain. Whether it be that training session or a week later or even six months later, he’d get you back!
“You’d think you’d got him in training and then he’d just pop the ball off and give the little feign, he was just brilliant in training.”
Giggs names his toughest opponent
During his conversation with the MUTV Group Chat, Giggs recalled his battles with Inter Milan legend Javier Zanetti during his playing career.
The United legend faced Javier Zanetti in the Champions League and admitted that the former Inter Milan star was his toughest opponent of all time.
“The hardest player I played against was Zanetti from Inter Milan,” Giggs said.
“He ran all day and he used to be a midfielder, so he was comfortable on the ball.
“He could defend, he was tough and he actually broke my nose in the quarter-finals against them.
“He had everything as a defender.”
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