Paul Scholes has shared his reasons for favouring Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali over Premier League rivals Declan Rice and Moisés Caicedo.
Since his £55 million switch from AC Milan, Tonali has quickly become a cornerstone in Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side. The Italian international featured 45 times across all competitions last season, guiding the Magpies back into the Champions League and helping them lift the Carabao Cup — their first major trophy in decades.
Scholes, a Manchester United legend renowned for his own midfield mastery, has made no secret of his admiration for Tonali’s composure and technical ability, revealing that he “prefers” the Newcastle man to Arsenal’s Rice and Chelsea’s Caicedo.
Rice, valued at £105 million, has been indispensable for both Arsenal and England, rarely missing a match since leaving West Ham. The 26-year-old has been central to Mikel Arteta’s title challenges and England’s deep runs in major tournaments.
Meanwhile, Caicedo — who became Chelsea’s record signing at £115 million — is beginning to show flashes of his best form, including a stunning goal in the club’s thrilling victory over Liverpool last weekend.
According to Metro, when he was asked on The Overlap to name the top midfielder currently playing in the Premier League, Scholes said:
“Right now? That’s tough.
I still don’t class Moises Caicedo as an all-round midfield player. I know he scored a great goal and was brilliant the other day.
I got some stick last year after having a go at him, and I almost thought about taking that back because he was brilliant in the Club World Cup.
I just prefer the controlling type of midfield players who play with a bit more style and can score goals a bit more often than Caicedo.
It was a brilliant goal against Liverpool but you wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t do that again for another 18 months would you?
He’s one of the best at what he does which is breaking up the play, he’s brilliant at that. But I prefer the other types.
Alexis Mac Allister was absolutely brilliant last season, he controlled a lot of games and I think Liverpool are missing that at the moment.
I love Sandro Tonali as well. He’s been brilliant. Very good. I would probably choose Tonali at this point.”
When pressed to confirm if Tonali was genuinely his pick as the league’s best midfielder, Scholes replied:
“Yes, you’re going to say Declan Rice but I think he’s better than Rice.
I really like Rice, don’t get me wrong, I think he’s got everything. Sometimes he takes a few too many touches of the ball and tries to look a bit more stylish than necessary.
He can do everything but I just don’t think he does it enough. I prefer Tonali but they’re both good players.”
Through his comments, Scholes made it clear that while he respects Rice and Caicedo, Tonali’s vision, balance, and technical control make him stand out as his preferred midfielder in England right now.
As featured on GoonerNews.com
