Paul Scholes shares the one thing he hated about playing for England

Paul Scholes has lifted the lid on how some of his former England teammates tried to use international duty as a stepping stone to secure a dream transfer to Manchester United. The Salford-born midfielder spent his entire professional career at Old Trafford, and he's widely regarded as one of the club's finest ever players.

During Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure, Scholes won 11 Premier League titles, 10 domestic trophies, and two Champions League medals. He also earned 66 England caps as part of the so-called 'Golden Generation' alongside Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand.

However, his close bond with Ferguson and his status at one of the world's biggest clubs came with an unexpected downside. Speaking on podcast with Paddy McGuinness and Nicky Butt, Scholes said: "Do you know what I found with England all the time?

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"Someone always used to pull you to say, 'Tell your gaffer I want to come and sign for you.' 'F*** off. You're here to play for England.' You know what I mean?

"They were obsessed. I always found the lads who weren't at big clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal, United... I always felt they used England as a bit of a way to get a move to a big club."

Scholes scored 155 goals and provided 82 assists in 716 appearances for United before hanging up his boots in May 2013. He saw his illustrious career at Old Trafford end around the same time as Ferguson's 27-year reign.

It comes as the Premier League takes its second international break of the season, with a host of stars from clubs across Europe joining forces under Thomas Tuchel for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The Three Lions are gearing up to take on Wales in an international friendly at Wembley on Thursday, October 9. On the clash, Thomas Tuchel said: "It is an Alzheimer’s Society international – it brings a very important topic into the spotlight.

"I can totally understand that people will maybe go and fall into the trap of going into the narrative that it’s only a friendly and then we are almost qualified and it’s an easy match in Latvia looking at the table, but it’s the opposite.

"We have to keep going. First of all, it’s Wales, so it’s a derby, it’s emotional and it’s a big crowd in Wembley. The competition is on to be in the squad first of all, to be selected; competition is on to be on the pitch and play."

Then, England will jet off to Riga's Daugava Stadium to face Latvia in a bid to secure their spot at next year's World Cup. With only three matches remaining, England currently sits atop Group K, having secured five victories from five games, a comfortable seven points ahead of Albania in second place.

Consequently, the Three Lions need just two more wins to officially book their ticket to the tournament. However, England could seal their qualification even earlier, depending on how Serbia, currently in third place, perform in their upcoming matches.

The team has qualifiers against Albania and Andorra this month, and if they fail to win either match, England will be out of reach, and they will therefore not qualify.

Serbia have two crucial qualifiers in October, against Albania and Andorra, and should they fail to secure maximum points in either of these fixtures, England's journey to next summer's tournament will be confirmed.

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