Messi Talked about Premier League and His Best player on Premier League Messi: Rooney, Van Persie & Aguero the Premier League's best..  "There are several quality players in the Premier League like Kun Aguero, who is my friend. I really like how he plays," Messi was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "Rooney [and] Van Persie are playing really well - they are great players. "No one player is the same as another. I think each player has his own style, and we're all different." Messi has already netted 50 goals in 43 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona in the 2011-12 campaign.

Arsenal - Tottenham Preview: Visitors looking to complete first Premier League double over Gunners in 19 years In, arguably, Arsene Wenger's toughest derby in his entire reign at the club, Spurs will be looking to complete a league double over their rivals for the first time since 1993. First XI ARSENAL Szczesny Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Gibbs Walcott, Arteta, Song, Gervinho Ramsey Van Persie TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FriedelWalker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto Lennon, Parker, Modric, Bale Van der VaartAdebayor   One side have recently been knocked out of two cups and look likely yet again to finish the season without silverware. The other are flying high in the Premier League, still in with a shout of the title, and looking to advance into the quarter-finals of a cup competition. You could be forgiven for thinking that Arsenal were the form team heading into this fixture, and based on many a season gone by you would be right. Not this season though. This season it is Tottenham’s turn to shine. The rivalry between the two sides has rarely been fiercer, and Sunday’s north London derby could cement the long speculated ‘turning of the tide’ in the Lilywhites’ favour. After going 20 games without a victory against theire neighbours, Spurs have won three and drawn once in their last four Premier League games against Arsenal. Harry Redknapp’s men go into a game at the Emirates Stadium as favourites for the first time and confidence will be high. If they play the same way they did in the 5-0 victory over Newcastle, this could well turn out to be a harder pill for Wenger to swallow than the humiliating 4-0 defeat away to AC Milan 11 days previously. The Frenchman must raise a team bereft of confidence, otherwise he will taste the bitterness of a Spurs double over Arsenal for the first time in his managerial career, the Gunners having not suffered such a fate since 1993 - three years before Wenger arrived at Highbury. Speculation over Wenger's continued hold on the Gunners' reins has never been more intense, but he can look towards star striker Robin van Persie to save the day. With 22 Premier League goals already this campaign, the 28-year-old has been the sole shining light in an otherwise dark and dingy season for his side. Without the impact of the league's leading goalscorer, Arsenal would find themselves, amazingly, in a relegation scrap. But if the Dutchman is on song, then he has the ability to drag his team to victory and, potentially, save his side's season with Champions League qualification. Gunners’ defenders Laurent Koscielny (knee) and Kieran Gibbs (groin) and midfielder Aaron Ramsey (ankle) all face fitness tests ahead of the game, but are expected to pull through. Francis Coquelin (hamstring) and Sebastien Squillaci (groin) are, however, sidelined. Defender Carl Jenkinson recently returned for the reserve team, but is not ready for first-team action, while centre-back Per Mertesacker (ankle) joins the ever-expanding list of long-term absentees after being ruled out for the remainder of the season. Harry Redknapp confirmed on Friday that Spurs striker Emmanuel Adebayor (knee) and Rafael van der Vaart (calf) are expected to be fit after training during the week, along with Benoit Assou-Ekotto (groin) and Luka Modric (ill).

The Arsenal midfielder's switch to his previous club has been confirmed by all three parties after a troubled campaign with the Gunners, where the Russian has struggled to impose himself. Arsenal midfielder Andrey Arshavin joins Zenit on loan The 30-year-old returns to his former club on the final day of the Russian transfer window after struggling for form under Arsene Wenger at the Emirates. Arsenal midfielder Andrey Arshavin has completed a loan move to his former club Zenit St Petersburg until July. The 30-year-old has struggled for form in the 27 appearances he has made this season and has returned to Zenit on the final day of the Russian transfer window. Arshavin posted on his official website: "I've moved to "Zenit". On loan, will play under number 29." With Gervinho returning from the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this month, Arshavin's chances of securing a regular first-team role ahead of Russia's Euro 2012 campaign this summer looked limited. Arsenal confirmed the reason behind the midfielder's move to Zenit was so that he could "maximise his opportunities for regular first-team football ahead of Euro 2012 in June". Arshavin joined Arsenal in February 2009 from Zenit for a reported £15 million fee.

Arsene Wenger is looking for Arsenal to “show internal strength and resilience” to bounce back against Tottenham after a 2-0 away defeat to Sunderland dumped the Gunners out of the FA Cup. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger calls for focus on Tottenham after FA Cup defeat to Sunderland The Gunners boss admitted his disappointment as Kieran Richardson's strike and an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain own goal put his side on course for another trophyless year. Arsene Wenger is looking for Arsenal to “show internal strength and resilience” to bounce back against Tottenham after a 2-0 defeat away to Sunderland dumped the Gunners out of the FA Cup. Following their 4-0 midweek mauling by AC Milan in the Champions League, the north Londoners had a tough time at the Stadium of Light as Kieran Richardson and an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain own goal condemned them to elimination and the prospect of another trophyless season. “I feel we had a committed performance and we gave absolutely everything that was left in our legs. It was a very difficult game,” Wenger admitted in the post-match press conference. “We had three away games in a week on three very difficult pitches. It was a very unfortunate schedule. “We fought hard but I felt we were a bit unlucky. It was a 100 per cent penalty that Mr [Howard] Webb missed [John O’Shea on Robin van Persie] and Sunderland scored with their first shot on goal. “Then we had to chase the game, take every gamble and we were caught on the break for the second goal. We had an awful lot of possession but did not create a lot and that is down to fantastic defending by Sunderland. They left us the ball, ran after it and defended well.” Asked what the probable lack of silverware would mean for the club going forward, Wenger said: “It is too early to say. “We are of course very disappointed tonight and it is very difficult to say where it leaves us and what we will do. “Let’s focus on our next game to finish well in the Premier League and fight as well even if it is a small possibility in the Champions League to give us a little chance and we have a big game next Saturday [against Spurs]. “I believe that the moment it is better to let people talk and criticise, analyse and destroy and on our side it is important we show internal strength and resilience and face all that and come out with a good performance in our next game. “The competition is very hard in England and I do not want to speak too much about that now. We could speak a long time about that one day. But at the moment we have to forget all that and focus on our next game and try to win it.” The Frenchman spoke scathingly of criticism that he has received from the media when asked if the result meant that the club was in crisis. “It depends what you call a crisis,” Wenger stated. “Every time we lose a game we have a crisis. Our job is about winning and playing well. “At the moment I get many lessons from many people who have managed zero clubs and zero games. I can take everything on board but I don’t think that would have helped us to win the game today. “We have played 15 years at the top level in the top four with remarkable consistency and one day when you manage a club you will see it is not easy.” “I think it is a very harsh judgement,” he added when told of Roy Keane’s comments that the current Gunners side are "the worst Arsenal team I've seen in all my time of watching football". Francis Coquelin, Aaron Ramsey and Sebastien Squillaci were all withdrawn due to injury during the game and Wenger admitted that injuries were an increasing problem. “We lost three players again today and we are starting to get very short,” said the Gunners boss. “None of them will be fit for next week.”

The Gunners pulled level on points with Chelsea and went fourth in the Premier League on goal difference, after the striker's effort in injury time completed a 2-1 comeback win against Sunderland Sunderland vs Arsenal Report match report from goal.com , Sunderland 1-2 Arsenal: Thierry Henry grabs dramatic late winner as Gunners fight back to go joint fourth Thierry Henry says farewell to the Gunners in true Hollywood style by scoring late on to complete the comeback and seal all three points for the visitors Arsenal legend Thierry Henry bade farewell to the Premier League in fairytale fashion with a 90th-minute winner as the Gunners came from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1. Substitute Henry, playing in what could be his last ever Premier League game as he prepares to return to Major League Soccer with the New York Red Bulls, scored from close range to complete an impressive Arsenal fightback. Arsenal had seemed to be heading for defeat when James McClean put Sunderland ahead but fellow substitute Aaron Ramsey equalised before Henry struck a dramatic winner. The Gunners had been quickly into their stride and skipper Robin van Persie wasted a decent early opening following a slip by Michael Turner but he went for precision over power and Simon Mignolet saved comfortably. The Gunners, who showed one change from the side that crushed Blackburn 7-1 with Bacary Sagna coming in for Francis Coquelin, remained on the front foot as Alex Song and Mikel Arteta dominated the midfield exchanges Kieran Richardson had to resort to illegal means to halt Arsenal when Alex Song sent Sagna off down the wing and was booked for a poorly timed challenge as the full-back sped goalwards. Theo Walcott came close to putting his side ahead midway through the first half when he was teed up by Van Persie but his angled shot went skidding past Mignolet’s far post. Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill tried to halt Arsenal in their tracks by ordering his team to defend more deeply and the negative tactics worked because the visitors were unable to find the space necessary to get to Mignolet. It was clear that Sunderland were ready to rely on counter-attacks and the ploy nearly worked. Indeed Arsenal hearts were in mouths when Black Cats fans called for a penalty after Per Mertesacker slipped and the ball bounced up on to his arm but referee Neil Swarbrick ignored their appeals. Sunderland continued to invite Arsenal pressure but Wenger’s team lacked the creativity to unpick the defence and they almost paid the price at the other end when John O’Shea set his sights on goal following Craig Gardner’s deflected free-kick but he skied his shot over. That seemed to invigorate Sunderland and Gardner went close to breaking the deadlock but his raking 25-yarder was pawed away by Wojciech Szczesny. Thierry Henry was sent on to regain the initiative but the move was to no avail as Sunderland went ahead in bizarre circumstances in the 70th minute. There seemed little danger when Per Mertesacker picked up possession just outside the box but then he crumpled to the ground and McClean showed no mercy, picking up the loose ball beyond slamming a low shot beyond Szczesny. Mertesacker was taken off on a stretcher and Arsenal looked doomed but then his replacement, Ramsey, popped up on the edge of the box to equalise five minutes later. This time Lady Luck smiled on Arsenal as the ball ricocheted off Gardner and fell kindly to the Wales captain who beat Mignolet with a shot from just outside the box that went in off a post. Henry, who will make the final appearance of his loan spell for Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday, had the final say when he nipped in ahead of Michael Turner to turn in Andrey Arshavin’s cross for his 229th goal in Arsenal colours.

Premier League Team of the Week: Robin van Persie & Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain star as Arsenal feature heavily Wolves trio Wayne Hennessey, Kevin Doyle and Roger Johnson also appear after the 2-1 away win over QPR, while Spurs' Kyle Walker makes his TOTW debut following Liverpool draw Arsenal dominate this week’s best XI following Saturday’s 7-1 rout of Blackburn Rovers, with no fewer than four of Arsene Wenger’s men making the cut.   Hat-trick hero Robin van Persie brought his total to 22 Premier League goals for the season at the Emirates, and the Dutchman makes his eighth TOTW appearance so far in the current campaign. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s performance drew equally as much attention as his captain's, with the 18-year-old’s superb double securing a place in our XI for the second time, whilst fellow wideman Theo Walcott is also included. Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien provided a dynamic display despite his side’s inability to hold on to a 3-0 lead at Stamford Bridge against Manchester United and is rewarded for his efforts, with team-mate Juan Mata just failing to make the grade despite the Spaniard’s sublime finish for the Blues' second goal. The Ghanaian is joined in midfield by QPR’s Adel Taraabt, who makes his TOTW debut following a promising display against Wolves, although Mark Hughes’ men were unable to hold off Mick McCarthy’s side as they fell to a 2-1 defeat - centre-back Roger Johnson lines up in defence following the victory at Loftus Road. The 28-year-old is partnered by Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny, who edges out team-mate Per Mertesacker, Swansea’s Steven Caulker and Wigan duo Emmerson Boyce and Gary Caldwell. Kyle Walker fills the right-back slot after an impressive defensive display in Tottenham’s 0-0 draw with Liverpool at Anfield, while Neil Taylor lines up at left-back following the Swans’ 2-1 away win against West Brom on Saturday. Welsh stopper Wayne Hennessey sees off competition from Norwich City’s John Ruddy to secure the No.1 spot, and striker Kevin Doyle’s match-winning performance completes a Wolves trio in our TOTW. Honourable mentions go to Steven Pienaar, Danny Guthrie and Gylfi Sigurdsson after sterling showings in midfield for Everton, Newcastle and Swansea respectively, while Wayne Rooney’s penalty double against Chelsea and Bobby Zamora’s debut goal for QPR were not enough to see the striking duo included. HENNESSEY  WOLVES  vs QPR (A)  Player Rating: 7.5  TOTW Apps: 1 WALKER JOHNSON KOSCIELNY TAYLOR  TOTTENHAM WOLVES ARSENAL SWANSEA  vs Liverpool (A) vs QPR (A) vs Blackburn (H) vs West Brom (A)  Player Rating: 7 Player Rating: 7.5 Player Rating: 7 Player Rating: 7.0 TOTW Apps: 1 TOTW Apps: 2 TOTW Apps: 1 TOTW Apps: 1 OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN ESSIEN TAARABT WALCOTT  ARSENAL CHELSEA QPR Arsenal  vs Blackburn (H) vs Manchester United (H) vs Wolves (H) vs Blackburn (H)  Player Rating: 9 Player Rating: 8 Player Rating: 8 Player Rating: 8.5 TOTW Apps: 2 TOTW Apps: 1 TOTW Apps: 1 TOTW Apps: 1 VAN PERSIE DOYLE   ARSENAL WOLVES   vs Blackburn (H) vs QPR (A)   Player Rating: 9 Player Rating: 8.5 TOTW Apps: 8 TOTW Apps: 1

Olympique Lyonnais boss Remi Garde believes the Arsenal manager would be an excellent choice for Les Bleus, should Laurent Blanc step down from his position after Euro 2012 Remi Garde: Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger would be a good coach for France The current Olympique Lyonnais trainer has voiced his opinion that the experienced Gunners manager would be a good replacement for Laurent Blanc at Les Bleus Olympique Lyonnais coach Remi Garde believes that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger would be a good option for the French national team after Euro 2012. Current France coach Laurent Blanc has a contract with the French Football Federation (FFF) until after this summer's European Championship, and a number of recent reports suggested that Wenger is one of the candidates to replace Blanc should he leave the position. "Wenger as the new national team coach? I believe that position would suit him well," Garde was quoted as saying by RMC. "He knows European football very well, and also has good knowledge of world football and the French players because he follows the league closely. "He would definitely be an interesting option in case Blanc leaves his position. He is a very big name in the world of football." Blanc's departure after Euro 2012 is by no means a certainty, though, as FFF president Noel Le Graet recently affirmed that the former Bordeaux boss could sign a new deal if this summer's tournament goes well.

Doubts about the Gunners' form were put to rest on Saturday as goals from Robin van Persie, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mikel Arteta and Thierry Henry sent their EPL opponents packing Arsenal recorded their first Premier League win of the calendar year after they hammered Blackburn 7-1 at the Emirates this afternoon. Robin van Persie tapped home in the opening two minutes before Morten Gamst Pedersen equalised with a well-struck freekick. The Gunners captain scored an identikit second before turning provider with a sumptuous pass to feed in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for the third. After the interval Mikel Arteta sunk a low drive from the edge of the area before Oxlade-Chamberlain bagged his second, Van Persie his hat-trick and substitute Thierry Henry put the icing on the cake with a late seventh. It was a display from the home side which quashed any doubts about their proficiency in front of goal, sustaining the Gunners’ assault on a top four Premier League finish. Changes from the sides who both failed to score in their last Premier League outings were few and far between. Steve Kean kept faith with the same line-up, while Arsene Wenger brought in Francis Coquelin and Tomas Rosicky to replace Bacary Sagna and Aaron Ramsey. The home side had no such problems breaking the deadlock this time round, with Van Persie breaching the Rovers defensive within seconds. Coquelin fed in Theo Walcott down the right hand side of the box, who squared for the Gunners captain to tap home into the unguarded net. From there on Arsenal probed, with Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain afforded plenty of time down the flanks. Rosicky fizzed a swerving effort just wide of the left upright before Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny combined in the box for the latter to flick a header onto the roof of the net. Ten minutes before half-time, Pedersen drew the visitors level with their first meaningful effort on goal. Koscielny brought down Anthony Modeste on the edge of the box, allowing Pedersen to step up and curl a left-footed strike beyond Wojciech Szczesny and into the top corner. The Gunners reply was immediate and in near identical fashion to their opener. This time Alex Song found Walcott down the right with a perfectly-executed slide rule pass. The winger took a touch before feeding Van Persie to rifle home. Moments later Arsenal made it 3-1, with Van Persie this time the architect. Walcott ghosted in from the right and found the Dutchman, who danced around the ball to manoeuvre space to slide an inch-perfect ball into the path of the onrushing Oxlade-Chamberlain. The teenager rounded Robinson and slid the ball home. Blackburn’s misery was compounded moments before half-time, with centre-half Gael Givet shown a straight red for a wide two-footed lunge on Oxlade-Chamberlain before Thomas Vermaelen hit the post with a flicked header. Immediately after the interval Arsenal had the ball in the net again, with Arteta striding onto a half-cleared corner to send a low drive beyond Robinson’s dive. The scoreline stayed that way for only a matter of minutes before Oxlade-Chamberlain doubled his account for the day. Walcott again caused mayhem down the right when he drove inside, evaded a couple of challenges and fed the ball to the teenager, who took a touch to steady himself and fire an effort inside the near post. On the hour mark Arsenal made it six, as Van Persie completed his hattrick. Oxlade-Chamberlain found Coquelin with a raking ball out to the right as the young Frenchman darted past Martin Olsson and found the Dutchman who sent the ball in from eight yards out.

Arsene Wenger: Every Premier League game for Arsenal is now a cup final The Frenchman saw his team leave the Reebok Stadium with a disappointing draw after squandering numerous chances, but insists a top-four finish is still in reach Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claims every Premier League game is now a 'cup final' after his side's goalless draw against Bolton.  Wenger's men drop into seventh following the draw on Wednesday evening, and now sit five points behind Chelsea who are currently in the last of the Champions League places. Arsenal have yet to win in the Premier League in 2012 and Wenger now fears injuries could also hinder his side's chances of lifting silverware this term. Asked if he was confident of getting back in the top four, he told reporters: “Of course, it’s a long to go, we have come through a difficult period and we lost the three championship games. “We have confidence, but we produce it game by game, every game for us in the championship is a cup final now. We go into a period now where we play in the FA Cup, we play in the Champions League so it is important that we do not have more injuries.” Wenger insists he was content with the desire shown from his players but concedes his side rue their missed chances. “We feel we have dropped two points because we had our chances to win the game, but we produced a decent game against a difficult opponent," said Wenger. "We took all the risk, we were a bit unlucky as well because we hit the bar the post, missed some great chances and in the end we took a gamble to play four strikers and nearly got caught in the last five minutes. “I cannot fault the effort and the commitment and desire to the game, the positive side is that we haven’t lost and we haven’t conceded a goal. Of course we have our regrets for not taking our chances. “You could see in the last 20 minutes you could see that we had one day less recovery than Bolton and that we had given it a lot against Aston Villa in the second half to come back in the game and win the cup and that we had heavy legs to finish the game.” On Wednesday it was confirmed that Jack Wilshere suffered a stress fracture in his right foot during his recovery from an injury sustained during pre-season. Wenger refused to speculate on the midfielder's recovery time but was disheartened to have a key player missing before a series of important fixtures. “You want your best players available when you play in the Champions League or the FA Cup and when you want to come back into the top four you want them available, so of course it’s frustrating,” said Wenger.

The young and highly sought-after Lille winger has told the press that he expects to complete a move to the Premier League, but not until the end of the 2011-12 campaign Eden Hazard reveals he will move to England next season The 21-year-old winger has been linked with nearly every top club in Europe over the past 12 months and the Belgian has now revealed that he is bound for the Premier League  Lille's Eden Hazard has revealed that he will be plying his trade in England next season. The 21-year-old winger has been linked with nearly every top club in Europe over the past 12 months and he has now announced that he is bound for the Premier League.  During a discussion about his future on Canal Plus, Hazard stated that he was going "to England" but ruled out the possibility of him leaving before the end of the season: "It's impossible for me to leave in January. As I said, I will finish the season at Lille, [as] we can still win a title." The Belgium international recently expressed his interest in joining Paris Saint-Germain but Hazard explained that he had decided instead to move away from Ligue 1. "This is an important personal choice and a football that suits me," Hazard continued. "I would rather go abroad, even if the PSG is a great club. I want to feature at a big club where I am sure to play." Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal have all reportedly been tracking Hazard, who Lille are resigned to losing in the summer. The Ligue 1 club are hoping to get a transfer fee of €40 million for the player.

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo moves level with Trans Narva star Aleksandrs Cekulajevs in the race for the Golden Shoe The Portuguese netted two penalties as his team swept Athletic Bilbao aside to move to the summit of the rankings, with Lionel Messi hot on his heels Two penalties in Real Madrid's 4-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao saw Cristiano Ronaldo draw level with Trans Narva star Aleksandrs Cekalujevs in the race for the Golden Shoe. The Latvian, plying his trade in the Estonian league, has scored an incredible 46 goals this season, and led the table until the Portuguese star's double. A Lionel Messi hat-trick in Barcelona's thrashing of Malaga ensured that the Argentine remained hot on the heels of his nemesis, and saw the 24-year-old pull away from Robin van Persie, who managed a solitary strike in Arsenal's 2-1 home defeat to Manchester United. CSKA Moscow's Ivorian striker Seydou Doumbia finished the Russian season with 24 goals, and currently sits in fifth place, while Trabzonspor's Burak Yilmaz scored his 22nd goal during his side's shock defeat to Karabukspor. Bundesliga duo Mario Gomez and Klaas Jan Huntelaar have taken their battle for the domestic Golden Boot to the European stage, and the Bayern Munich man sits two points ahead of his Schalke counterpart, with the Dutchman level on points with Newcastle's Demba Ba. Manchester City's big money signing Sergio Aguero is in 10th place courtesy of 14 goals to date in his debut Premier League season. History & How It Works In 1967-68, French football magazine L'Equipe opted to hand out an award to the top goalscorer in all European leagues for his good performances during the season. Between 1968 and 1991, high profile names such as Eusebio, Gerd Muller, Ian Rush and Marco van Basten won the coveted trophy. However, the gap between big and small leagues started to grow in the early 90's and L'Equipe decided to make the competition unofficial after the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) issued a protest in 1991. Darko Pancev won the award that season with 34 goals, but the CFA claimed that a player had scored 40 goals in Cyprus that term. Adidas, sponsor of the awards, still handed out the trophy until 1996 before European Sports Magazine (with L'Equipe as a member) decided to make the title official again. ESM divided all European leagues in three groups according to strength, and attached to each group a quotient by which the number of goals is multiplied to obtain the player's rating. The European Golden Shoe was thus no longer necessarily handed to the top goalscorer, but to the player with the most points. The weightings are determined by the league's ranking on the UEFA coefficients, which in turn depend on the results of each league's clubs in European competition over the previous five seasons. Goals scored in the top five leagues according to the UEFA coefficients are multiplied by a factor of two, and goals scored in the leagues ranked six to 21 are multiplied by 1.5. Goals in all other leagues are all worth one single point. This measure has prevented players from the so called weaker leagues from winning the European Golden Shoe, since a goal scored in, for example, Armenia, Estonia or Azerbaijan carries less weight than a goal scored in Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga or the Premier League. Players such as Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Forlan and Lionel Messi have won the European Golden Shoe in the past few seasons.

Scholes's decision to come out of retirement was sensationally announced before United's 3-2 FA Cup victory over rivals City, while Henry has re-joined Arsenal on a temporary switch from MLS side New York Red Bulls, scoring on his second debut for the club in the 1-0 win over Leeds.

Ferdinand rates the pair as two of the most influential players to have played in England since the inception of the Premier League.

"It is great to see two of the best players come back," Ferdinand told PA Sport. "If I was going to name a top five list of players to have played in the Premier League, Scholes and Henry would be in there.

"It's fantastic for Arsenal, of course, just as it is for us to have Scholes back. Hopefully he's going to help us get over the line and win another couple of trophies."

The 33-year-old also revealed none of the Red Devils players knew of Scholes’ plans to come out of retirement until the club’s kit man told them.

He added: "I spoke to Scholesy a few weeks beforehand and asked him if he was coming back but he doesn't give anything away.

“When he met up with the squad the day before the City game, I asked him again if he was in the squad but he said he was coming to watch as part of the staff.

“I had an inkling he might be back though because he trained the day before with us, but it wasn't until the kit man told me before the game that he had brought his gear that I knew for certain."

Ferdinand also believes the midfielder's return will aid United’s youngsters, adding: "It's fantastic for the club and the team. More importantly, for the young players learning their trade - especially our midfielders - they can see a top player at work.