It was a remarkable statement given that Zidane was a giant among his peers and rightly regarded as the best player in world football at his peak.

“Scholes is undoubtedly the best midfielder of his generation,” added the former Juventus and Real Madrid icon.

The Scholes appreciation club gained a new member this week when World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst suggested the 35-year-old Manchester United star should end his international exile with England.

The Old Trafford favourite won 66 caps – the last was in the European Championship quarter-final defeat by Portugal – and scored 14 goals for his country before retiring in 2004, largely down to the fact that Sven Goran Eriksson played him in a wide-left position.

Steve McClaren made four unsuccessful attempts to try and persuade Scholes to return to the international stage and the consensus now is that his time has gone.

However, Hurst, England’s 1966 hat-trick hero, believes current manager Fabio Capello should make one last attempt to convince one-club man Scholes he could do a job at the World Cup in South Africa this summer.

Hurst said: “If Paul Scholes changed his mind and came out of international retirement I would pick him, definitely, for the World Cup.”

Scholes, a winner of nine Premier League titles, scored a crucial winner in the recent derby against Manchester City to keep Sir Alex Ferguson’s side in the chase for a record 19th domestic crown (6/4 Man United – Premier League outright).

Hurst said on current form Scholes is still as good as any other England midfielder and deserves his place at the World Cup this summer.

Speaking at Lilleshall National Sports Centre, he added: “There is a position for him in the England squad this summer if he changes his mind. Six months ago I was not so sure but now I would say ‘put him in’.”

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