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Cape Town - Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has dismissed the notion that the Premier League is the best in the world, despite a summer of record spending.
With the new TV rights deal kicking in this season, top-flight clubs in England were busier than ever in the transfer market, spending a combined total of over £1 billion for the first time in the history of the Premier League.
Several high-profile players have made the switch to English shores, but Scholes feels the Premier League is still lacking the top-bracket players such as Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale and Neymar.
He also highlighted the most recent edition of the Champions League, which saw just two English teams progress to the knockout stages, compared to Spain's six.
"The Spanish league's the best by far if you're judging on the European competitions," Scholes wrote in his new book called, Class of 92: Out of our League – Our Journey Back to the Heart of the Game.
"In the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the Europa League in 2015-16, they had six of the 16 teams. Nearly half of them. The Premier League had just two."
The former Red Devil also picked out three of the players he feels are the top talents in England, with all three plying their trade at Manchester City.
He added: "There needs to be a real step up in quality in England. Other than Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva, we don't have the best players. All the best players are in other countries.
"The best players are in Spain or at Bayern Munich and Juventus. We're linked with big players - Gareth Bale is a top player - but we don't get them now. Not anymore.
"You never see a Lionel Messi coming over here, you never see a Neymar in the Premier League."
With the new TV rights deal kicking in this season, top-flight clubs in England were busier than ever in the transfer market, spending a combined total of over £1 billion for the first time in the history of the Premier League.
Several high-profile players have made the switch to English shores, but Scholes feels the Premier League is still lacking the top-bracket players such as Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale and Neymar.
He also highlighted the most recent edition of the Champions League, which saw just two English teams progress to the knockout stages, compared to Spain's six.
"The Spanish league's the best by far if you're judging on the European competitions," Scholes wrote in his new book called, Class of 92: Out of our League – Our Journey Back to the Heart of the Game.
"In the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the Europa League in 2015-16, they had six of the 16 teams. Nearly half of them. The Premier League had just two."
The former Red Devil also picked out three of the players he feels are the top talents in England, with all three plying their trade at Manchester City.
He added: "There needs to be a real step up in quality in England. Other than Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva, we don't have the best players. All the best players are in other countries.
"The best players are in Spain or at Bayern Munich and Juventus. We're linked with big players - Gareth Bale is a top player - but we don't get them now. Not anymore.
"You never see a Lionel Messi coming over here, you never see a Neymar in the Premier League."
