Paul Aaron Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football player who has spent his whole career at Manchester United. Scholes has been called the best midfielder of his generation, and has been praised many times for his modesty and attitude towards the game.

Paul has three children, Aaron, Alicia and Aiden. He lives in Saddleworth, Oldham with wife Claire - mother to his children.

Paul represented the England national team for a period of seven years, having been handed his début in 1997. He went on to represent his country at four major tournaments; the 1998 and 2002 World Cups and the 2000 and 2004 European Championships. Following Euro 2004, Scholes announced his retirement from international football, citing his intentions to focus on his club career with Manchester United and spend more time with his family. Scholes went to Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School in Middleton Manchester. At his final Period of School he was selected to represent Great Britain National Schools in Football. Paul suffers from asthma.

He is considered by Rio Ferdinand and Sir Alex Ferguson and many of the United fans to be Man Utd's best player, and some time ago by former Netherlands star Edgar Davids, to be the best midfielder in the world.

On the BBC website Italian coach Marcello Lippi stated that Scholes was his favourite player. Lippi went on to say "Paul Scholes would have been one of my first choices for putting together a great team - that goes to show how highly I have always rated him,". "He would have been one of the first players I'd have bought, given the chance". In the same article former team-mate Laurent Blanc stated "I tell anyone who asks me - Scholes is the best English player."