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Paul Scholes is widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of the Premier League era.
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After retiring as a player, he has done punditry work and is a co-owner of Salford City.
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He has a significant net worth due to his generational talent and post-playing career.
Born in Salford, in November 1974, Paul Scholes developed into one of the best midfielders in world football.
Having joined Manchester United as a 14-year-old trainee, he remained with the club for his whole career, falling just short of 500 appearances.
With 66 England caps and a glittering club career, it is no surprise that he has a high net worth, and his current media work and business interests should see him comfortably consolidate this wealth.
Net Worth
Paul Scholes is thought to have a net worth of £20m. This is an unsurprising amount for a Premier League great, but perhaps might raise the odd eyebrow given he’s a player whose driving force was simply to play football.
The ginger wizard did not even have an agent during his time at Manchester United.
While Scholes will not have attracted the eye-watering wages some footballers command nowadays, he will still have been well rewarded throughout his career.
Towards the end of his playing days, for example, he was earning £80,000 a week but during his pomp he was on less, with a wage of £50,000 per week.
Current Premier League predictions estimate the best players earning up to ten times that amount in the near future.
After retiring as a player, he has earned a healthy income as a BT Sport pundit, and has invested some of his wealth as a co-owner of Salford City.
And despite his relatively low profile, he still signed lucrative deals due to his standing in the game. Amongst other deals, he has featured as a cover star for FIFA video games and enjoyed a long-standing Nike tie-up.
Wife
Claire Froggatt started dating Paul Scholes when they were just 18 years old, having met in a local pub, and the couple remained together for over 20 years.
They married in 1999, six years after first dating, in a private ceremony, and brought their children up together from their home in Saddleworth, Greater Manchester.
Claire, like her husband, is a deeply private person, with no social media presence, so little is known about her.
Paul has however spoken in the past of how he retired from international football aged just 29, as he missed being with her.
Her support during his career was clearly crucial, but sadly the couple hit the headlines in 2020, when it was reported that they had split after 21 years of marriage, and that Claire had moved out of their family home.
Children
Paul and Claire are parents to three children – two sons, Aiden and Arron, and a daughter named Alicia. As you may expect, they are deeply protective of their children, and do not court publicity.
However, Paul has regularly spoken out about the struggles he has faced with his youngest child Aiden, due to his autism.
His other son Arron seems to have inherited some of his dad’s skills, playing non-league football as an attacking midfielder.
Alicia is the most prominent of the three children, with a large Instagram following for her account (alicia.scholesx). A clear fitness enthusiast, she also posts photos of her with friends and family, and of her travels around the world.
Salford
In March 2014, it was announced that a group of former Manchester United players that included Paul Scholes and his old teammates Gary and Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt, were taking over Salford City.
They are known collectively as the “Class of ‘92”, as they broke into the United team that year.
The new consortium announced their lofty ambitions for the club, though the first act of changing the shirt colour to red did not meet with universal approval.
They also soon sold a 50% stake in the club to billionaire Peter Lim but remain in general control to this day.
The aim of Scholes and his former teammates is to attain Championship football within 15 years, rising through the leagues from their initial starting point in the NPL Division One.
And while the road has been rocky at times, with a succession of managers, and Scholes himself appointed as caretaker manager at one point, in 2019 they were promoted to the Football League after victory in a play-off final.
Further progress has proven trickier however, and those into football betting should perhaps hold off backing further glory for now.
Quotes
Paul Scholes is one of the most celebrated ex-footballers on the planet, as many of the greats down the years have been keen to mention his genius on a football pitch.
Unquestionably, his reputation in the sport will remain long after he has stopped playing and looking at the current Premier League odds, it is clear his old club could do with him in his prime right now.
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of many who states he is the best player he has played alongside. Roy Keane, a man not overly generous with praise, called him an amazingly gifted player, and admired his lack of self-promotion.
Sir Alex Ferguson called him the perfect player, and David Beckham has related how his Real Madrid teammates often asked him about Scholes, such was their respect for the midfielder.
Thierry Henry claimed Scholes was the United player the Arsenal team were always most scared of, calling him one of the best midfielders he had seen, a view shared by Pep Guardiola and the great Zinedine Zidane, who felt he was untouchable and a player you never tired of watching.
Scholes was even a role model to such legendary players as Xavi Hernandez. All of which is understandable, for a player who was without doubt one of the best Premier League midfielders.
It is fair to say that Paul Scholes shuns a public life and profile, and for many years he had no social media accounts.
On occasion he popped up on the feeds of former team-mates and family members, and eventually he decided it was time to take more control.
In 2019 therefore, he finally succumbed and set up his own Instagram account, quickly acquiring a healthy following of over 750,000 people.
His feed is a mix of family photos, news detailing his current life, and plenty of nostalgic photos from his playing days, as he lit up the sport in one of the best football cities and beyond.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 28th January 2022
