Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, has left the door open for Paul Scholes to earn a new contract at Old Trafford.
Scholes, whose present deal ends next summer, continued his fine start to the season by scoring the only goal in United's victory over Besiktas in group B of the Champions League in Istanbul on Tuesday evening.
He may turn 35 in November and no longer be the player who, during his pomp, would ghost into the penalty box and score for fun, but his form has helped him to leapfrog Michael Carrick in the midfield pecking order this season and Ferguson raised the prospect yesterday of Scholes having to put his retirement on hold.
"I don't think this is Paul's last season, not the way that he plays," the United manager said. "He is not the type to burst in to the penalty box any more, is he?" Ferguson was referring to the deeper role that Scholes now adopts for United and said he could not see the player walking away from the game.
"It's difficult to say [how long he can go on] because it's still only September, but I am seeing the fresh Scholesy and the best time to use him is when he is fresh.
"He will not be playing the whole season, but if I get 25 games out of him at the level we saw [in the 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur] on Saturday, I will be delighted at that. I have read that stuff about him [playing for] Oldham in his last year — no chance. He isn't going to drop through the leagues, I am sure of it."
The controversial sending-off that Scholes received for two bookable offences against Tottenham at White Hart Lane means that he will play no part in the derby match against Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday, and the same applies to Emmanuel Adebayor.