“He destroyed me! I couldn’t live with him!” - Paul Scholes recalls facing ex-Russia international in Manchester United training

Paul Scholes has revealed that Andrei Kanchelskis tormented him in Manchester United training. The Red Devils legend claims that he was 17 years old and was asked to play as a left-back by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Recalling the incident while talking to The Daily Telegraph, Scholes stated that he was asked to play against the winger who had joined from Shakhtar Donetsk. He revealed that the new signing tormented him in training and he never wanted to play as a left-back again. He said:

“One of my first training sessions there I came out and I was maybe 17 and was asked to play left-back and the club had just signed him. The first team didn’t have a game so he came over. I’m no left-back. We didn’t know much about him then. We just knew he was a flying winger. He destroyed me! I couldn’t live with him!”

Paul Scholes and Kanchelskis played 10 matches together at Manchester United. They won six of those games while losing twice and drawing as many times.

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Paul Scholes on playing with Mark Hughes and Bryan Robson at Manchester United

Paul Scholes went on to talk about the high standards that were set at Manchester United as the reserves trained close to the first team and U18s. He said that he would dream about playing for the first team together with Mark Hughes and Bryan Robson and said:

“We’d be on one pitch, the reserves would be on another pitch and the first team on another and you’d always have a sneaky look when you were with the Under-18s and think: ‘That’s where I want to be, I want to be in Jim Ryan’s team, I want to be in the reserves.’ And then you’d make it there and think: ‘Right, I want to be with the first team.’

"First training session I was doing shooting practice against Jim Leighton! Mark Hughes was there. Bryan Robson. All of a sudden you are rubbing shoulders with your heroes. They were firm but fair. It was like with us when Paul Pogba or Jesse Lingard came over. You welcomed them but if their attitude was not right… it was about setting the standards.”

Paul Scholes went on to play 714 matches for Manchester United, scoring 153 goals and assisting 83 times. He won the Premier League 11 times, also winning the UEFA Champions League twice and the FA Cup thrice, among other honors.