Scholes names Manchester United star whose departure devastated him

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has revealed that he was devastated by the departure of one of his teammates from Old Trafford.

Paul Scholes is without doubt one of the greatest players in Manchester United history and is considered by many to be the best English midfielder to ever play the game.

Thus, it is safe to say that there are not many things that have not been said about Scholes. He was a starter in one of the most successful teams ever for almost two decades. That just speaks for itself.

Through that period of time, he had the chance to share the pitch with some of the greatest players ever to grace the game of football. Many came and many left as Scholes stayed on. But one particular departure appears to be have devastated the midfielder particularly during his playing days.

As reported by the Metro, he told DAZN:

"“It was all part of football. When you start out with those five or six lads you hope that you’ll be there for the next 20 years,.“Unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way. You lose people along the way. Nicky went and Nicky was my best mate – I’d grown up with him since I was 12 or 13. You’re devastated, I really was devastated.”"

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Nicky Butt was part of the famed Class of ’92 that consisted of himself, Scholes, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Phil Neville and Gary Neville. The six went on to achieve great success playing under Sir Alex Ferguson and are all still fondly remembered today.

Ferguson knew when to let players go though and that was a huge part of his continuous success. As a result, Butt was shown the exit door in 2004 when he was no longer a part of the first-team picture and joined Newcastle United. Of course, his departure ended up hurting Scholes on a personal level after the two had come through the youth ranks and played together for years.

It is not a story with a sad ending though as Butt is currently the head of first-team development at Manchester United while the six members of the Class of ’92 each own of 10% of League Two side Salford City, who were recently managed by Scholes as caretaker before Richie Wellens was handed the full-time job.