Paul McGrath has been given a serious shout out from Gary Lineker on Twitter, after the former England striker picked the Irishman as the defender he would choose from any era to face Erling Haaland.
Lineker was one of the most prolific strikers of all-time and had elite strike rates internationally and for most of the clubs he lined out for.
In England he would have faced McGrath on a number of occasions when playing for Leicester, Everton, and Spurs, making him a fairly sound reference on the skills of McGrath and what it takes to stop a world class striker of Haaland's ilk.
In response to Lineker, McGrath was as humble as ever, replying 'No thank you' with a laughing emoji.
Whatever the context, it is always heartening to see McGrath get his due praise from high profile figures, given that he is often overlooked in conversations about the best defenders England's top league has ever seen.
Gary Lineker Gives Paul McGrath The Highest Of Praise
Paul McGrath. https://t.co/YhzxbvUC2S
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) April 28, 2023
No thank you 😂 @GaryLineker https://t.co/4oy7rgZgZ8
— Paul McGrath (@Paulmcgrath5) April 28, 2023
READ HERE: Paul McGrath Received A 'Biblical' Welcome At The Overlap Special In Dublin Last Night
McGrath infamously had is drinking demons, which lead to his transfer Manchester United to Aston Villa, and no doubt affected his stature within the game outside of Ireland and Villa.
Ferguson was so fed up with McGrath that he offered the centre-half a large sum of money to leave United.
"Sir Alex got me into the room and just said ‘we’d like you to stop playing football’, said McGrath.
"Simple as that. And he said they were willing to give me £100,000 to quit playing football altogether and just go back to Ireland.
"I was thinking about it because £100,000 back then was quite a lot of money.
"But I spoke to Kevin Moran and Bryan Robson, and I just said I wanted to play on because I thought I could still do something in football.
"So Gordon Taylor, who was at the PFA, went into Sir Alex and said ‘Paul’s playing on, you can fine him, you can do what you want but he’s going to play football - here or somewhere else’.
"It wasn’t a shock really because we were acting up a bit back then.
"We had a bit of fun but we overdid it, so then he just wanted me out of the club.
"Then Bryan Robson was having a barbeque at his house and suddenly Graham Taylor was on the phone saying ‘can you come up to Aston Villa’ and I jumped at the chance.
"I thought ‘Jesus, I can play there every week’."
SEE ALSO: Aoife Mannion Shares Photo Of The Time She And Jack Grealish Played At Croker
