LEEDS PROMOTION WOULD BE A VERY FITTING TRIBUTE TO MY OLD PALS HUNTER & CHERRY

JOHNNY GILES believes Manchester United and their fans are “kidding themselves” if they believe Bruno Fernandes is the new Paul Scholes.

Fernandes, 25, joined United in January for £67million from Sporting Lisbon, where he was twice Portugal’s player of the year and was in their side which lifted last summer’s inaugural UEFA Nations League crown.

His stock has since continued to soar and, in the nine matches the midfield star has played for United, he scored three goals.

But already Giles does not accept the comparison with Scholes and it is why he feels United signing Jack Grealish from Aston

Villa could work. Giles says Fernandes is a goalscoring midfielder, such as Chelsea’s record scorer Frank Lampard, rather than an all-round playmaker like the United legend.

“It does bother me when I hear people talking about Fernandes being the next Scholes and the perfect midfield player,” said Giles, 79, who played for United between 1957 and 1963.

“That is not the case. He is nowhere near Scholes and never will be.

People at the club will be kidding themselves if they believe he is going to do what Scholes did. He doesn’t play anywhere near the way Scholes played, even in a positional sense.

“Scholes was one of the best midfielders I have seen who could connect the team from back to front. He was the best I have seen at that for a long time, especially when he was playing with Roy Keane, David Beckham, and

Ryan Giggs.

“He was the one who knitted it all together, and was one of the great midfield players, so I don’t think Fernandes is

Scholes.

“Fernandes is a goalscoring midfield player. He should be an asset to the club, but not in the way he is being described at the moment.

“He will be more like a Lampard as, every time I see him, he always has a good shot on him and good ability.

“He will be a goalscoring midfield player and there is nothing wrong with that. Scoring goals and making goals makes him an asset – but he won’t initiate.” Academy graduate Scholes

excelled in two spells at a

Old Trafford between 1994–2013, 718 games with 155 goals and 55 Premier League assists. Having retired in 2011, he returned the following January.

Giles (below), an FA Cup winner with United in 1963 before moving to Leeds where he gained his own legendary status, believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side now need a similar playmaker capable of linking defence and attack to bring the best out of Fernandes.

And that potential solution is United’s £70m pursuit of Grealish. Villa skipper Grealish, 24, has excelled this season with eight top-flight goals and seven assists despite the club struggling near the bottom of the Premier League table.

And Giles, who lives in Birmingham, added: “Grealish would be more likely to do a Scholes for Manchester United than Fernandes.

“He plays on one side or the other for Villa, but I would like to see him playing in the middle.

“His control is good, he goes past people, and uses the ball well. He and Fernandes would be chalk and cheese in the way they play. So, Grealish could be coming from a deep position, and picking it up from the back four, and Fernandes would need that to pick him out.

“Fernandes is not going to be picking anyone out from the back.

“He needs the ball to get to him, then he can do what he is best at.”

LEEDS legend Johnny Giles is hoping the Championship leaders get the chance to return to the Premier League this year as a fitting tribute to Norman Hunter and Trevor Cherry.

In the past month, the Elland Road club have lost both Hunter, (top, left) 76, and Cherry (top, right), 72.

Leeds midfielder Giles was part of the glory teams alongside them both and said survivors of that squad are planning a reunion when it is safe to toast their memories.

Seven points clear of third place when football went into lockdown, Leeds have not been in the Premier League since 2004. And Giles said: “It would be huge for them if they did go up.

“Whether we are going to get playing football again, we don’t know, but they are in a strong position. They deserve it and there is a huge and passionate crowd. People would love to see them back in the Premier League.”

Giles and the Elland Road club were mourning the loss of legendary star Hunter, who died from coronavirus last month, when their former England defender Cherry passed away suddenly less than two weeks later.

The Republic of Ireland midfielder played alongside pal Hunter for 12 years from 1963-1975 when they won two titles plus an FA Cup and League Cup and tasted glory in Europe. Cherry joined Leeds in 1972 and made 486 appearances during a title-winning spell.

Giles, 79, reflected: “It is very sad. And it is very difficult because at the moment we can’t do anything and can’t even go to the funeral.

“I was in touch with the lads and when this calms down we will have a night out in memory in Leeds and get together.”

Giles welcomed the decision to rename the South Stand at Elland Road in honour of Hunter, the tough-tackling centre-back nicknamed ‘Bites Yer Legs’.

“If anyone deserves a stand named after him, he does. What was often lost was he didn’t get too much credit for his footballing abilities,” he added.

“Norman Hunter could really play. When I played with him and was 40 yards away he would get it on his left foot and you would get it straight to your feet if the ball was on.

“He played at the same time as the great Bobby Moore, but he still got 28 caps for England. Leeds had a reputation for being a tough team, but so were all the others. You look back at the 60s and 70s and there was grievous bodily harm and you wouldn’t get a yellow card.”