Jaap Stam has compared new Manchester United signing Bruno Fernandes to club legend Paul Scholes.
Portuguese midfielder Fernandes signed a five-and-a-half-year deal with the Red Devils last month after completing a £68million move from Sporting.
The 25-year-old impressed on his debut in the goalless draw with Wolves at the start of the month and helped Manchester United secure a 2-0 win over top-four rivals Chelsea on Monday evening.
Former Manchester United defender Stam has heaped praise on Fernandes and likened the new Red Devils signing to Scholes, who won 11 Premier League titles in a 20-year spell at Old Trafford.
‘I think Fernandes is a bit similar to Scholesy,’ Stam told 888sport. ‘He’s always looking to play forward.
‘He’s got the ability to score. He’s got a great free-kick. He’s got a great pass. He is always looking to get into certain areas to get onto the ball and be influential in the game.
‘He’s not exactly the same. Scholesy was a bit more aggressive without the ball. But in football intelligence he is similar to Paul Scholes.’
Stam has also weighed in on the Paul Pogba saga, with the French World Cup-winner expected to leave Manchester United in the summer.
‘The difficult thing is that agents are always pressing on behalf of their players,’ Stam added.
‘But players always want to play themselves, especially when you’re a big player and a manager tells you that you’re not going to play. You then want to go somewhere else and play for another club.
‘And if you’re a big player like Pogba is there are always teams asking for you and who want to sign you. That makes things difficult for the manager who has to keep the player calm and make him feel happy and appreciated.
‘This is especially true these days with all the money in football.
‘It’s an extra dimension to the actual football and with all the money around every player want to be thought of as the best.
‘But they need to look at the big picture and look at what the club wants to do and how they want to play.’
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