Paul Scholes has hailed the impact of Bruno Fernandes at Man Utd.

• United are unbeaten in the nine games Fernandes has starred in since his £47million January move from Sporting Lisbon.

• The United legend has questioned whether Fernandes has the versatility to play in the number eight role in a midfield two.

Scholes says the former Sporting captain has brought "what was sadly missing at Old Trafford" [Getty]

Paul Scholes has heaped praise on the influence Bruno Fernandes has had at Manchester United.

The ex-England midfield maestro compared the Portuguese ace to Red Devils greats Eric Cantona and Teddy Sheringham, adding that 'his technical ability and leadership qualities' have helped Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side cover ground on the Premier League's top two Liverpool and Manchester City.

"The one thing with Bruno is he doesn’t look like a central midfielder to me," said Scholes in an interview with BBC Sport.

"He’s an out and out number 10. He’s great on the ball, always on the half-turn and he’s the link that United really needed.

"They lacked that quality in midfield and since he came in he’s had that.

"He can feed the ball in to players, he’s got a great shot on him and he looks like a real leader as well. United had lacked that.

"Whether he can play in midfield in a two, that’s yet to be seen. He’s more like an Eric Cantona, a Teddy Sheringham - he can beat players as well. "He is somebody who brings what was sadly missing at Old Trafford and he seems to have livened up everyone. The team is playing well and they look like scoring goals." "They are still behind, but they have bought a brilliant player in who seems to have knitted it all together," Scholes said of Fernandes. "They did have a really good group of players but missed that one person who can make a difference - like a David Silva or Kevin de Bruyne who can glue the team together with their attacking movements. "I still think they are a bit off the pace - they’ve looked good lately since Fernandes came in but Liverpool and Manchester City are streets ahead.

"There are three or four signings that can help but for the first time in a long time you feel like they could close the gap to the top."

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