'Scholes was England's best midfielder ahead of Lampard & Gerrard'

Former Chelsea midfielder Deco believes Paul Scholes was the best English midfielder in the Premier League.

Deco played alongside Frank Lampard for two seasons at Stamford Bridge, while he also faced Steven Gerrard in games against Liverpool and England.

But the former Portugal international believes the former Manchester United midfielder was better than both Lampard and Gerrard.

“I played with and against so many fantastic players in midfield like Gerrard,” Deco told Squawka.

“I had the opportunity to play with Lampard together at Chelsea. I think, because he was a different type of player to all other types of English midfielder, Paul Scholes was the best player that I saw playing for an English midfield and one of the best players in the world.

“I think at the moment there are some great players like that.

“At Madrid, Modric. Iniesta is still playing. Xavi. In my generation, Paul Scholes was a player like that. There are not so many players with this style because I think most of the players are box-to-box, not about controlling the game, keeping the balance of the team.”