THE GOLDEN BOY

Paul Scholes is entering his "golden years" at Old Trafford.

That's the view of manager Sir Alex Ferguson after the Salford-born midfielder gave inspirational performances against Celtic in the Champions League and on Sunday against Arsenal before he tired in the later stages.

"Paul's performance against Celtic was a masterclass of patient play. He has an awareness of what's happening around him on the edge of the box which is better than most players. That's helped by his experience.

"As a kid he always had a knack of arriving in the penalty area just at the right time but he's proving just as effective from outside the box because he's using his experience.

"He'll always be a threat and hopefully we'll get the customary 10 or 12 goals which we usually get from him each season.

"He's always had fantastic ability and I think he's using his maturity now. He's in the golden years of his life now and the next couple of years will hopefully be his peak time."

"For a while there was no progress with his eyesight. But all of sudden around the end of April it seemed to get better and he ended up playing the second-half of the last game of the season.

"It was a worry and I'm sure Paul was worrying about it more than anyone."