Graeme Souness insists Manchester United legend David Beckham was not a world-class footballer

Although widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, David Beckham was not a world-class player.

That's according to talkSPORT's Graeme Souness, who believes two of his teammates Manchester United The legends are more than worthy of the title.

Beckham He enjoyed a glittering career at United, where he won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and the Champions League, scoring 85 goals and assisting 121 in 394 appearances.

He also played for European giants AC Milan, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, as well as earning the third-highest number of caps in England's history with 115.

The 49-year-old is considered one of the most famous footballers of all time and was known for his excellent passes, crosses and free kicks.

However, Scotland and the Liverpool legend Sensation He doesn't believe Beckham has reached world-class status despite his quality.

Speaking on an episode of Simon and Souness in March, he said: “I wouldn't say he's a world-class football player.

“I think he was… a dead-ball kicker, as good as anyone you want to name. But you know, we're talking about a world-class player…

“For me, the word 'world class' is something that gets thrown around a lot, commentators use it all the time. For me, 'world class' is someone who could go anywhere and get on anyone's team, and there's always…”

“Couldn't Beckham have done that?” asked Jim White, but Souness insisted: “I don't think so, in my opinion. I think there's only… Do you know who could do that in this country at the moment? Let's look at them.”

“There's no one at Manchester United, (Kevin) De Bruyne fits that, I think Bernardo Silva toys with that. (Erling) Haaland? Yes. (At Liverpool?) I think there's a real challenge for the goalkeeper (Alisson), I think the centre-back (Virgil van Dijk) does it, (Mohamed) Salah does it.

“And is there anyone at Arsenal anyway? No. No one at Tottenham. So world-class that any team would welcome them.”

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White then spoke about how great the famous Class of '92 was, with Beckham breaking into the United first team alongside Nicky Butt, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Phil Neville.

Souness replied: “Giggs would come into any team. Giggs was world class, Giggs comes in and comes into any team.”

“So Giggs was world class but Beckham wasn't?” White asked, to which his co-host replied: “In my opinion, no.”

“He would have wanted to avoid me,” the former midfielder added when asked if he would have felt comfortable playing against him.

“He played on the wing, didn't he? I think we may not have mentioned the best. I think Scholes was a world-class player. I liked playing against him, it was right.”

White asked if Beckham would fit into any team today as a wide player, to which his fellow Scot replied: “Yes, because he has that commitment, he had a commitment that few had.

“You know, I'm saying… Am I contradicting myself? Maybe we should be talking about world class? But I still have… No, I can't.”

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“I don't think he was a phenomenal goalscorer,” Souness added: “I don't remember him scoring many goals, although he did contribute.”

“But he will be remembered as a great Manchester United player, without a doubt, in what may be the best, certainly in my lifetime, his best period, his glory period under Fergie.”

Souness then claimed that Beckham would be in the current England squad and White replied: “That says a lot about him, doesn't it? You can't say that about everyone…”

“No, no, he had class,” Souness replied. “What really makes him attractive is, in my opinion, that he had a lot of publicity.”

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“I guess he was the most famous footballer in the world for a while, but that didn't change his desire on the football field. He still wanted to work hard with the guys he played against, you know.”

“Still, he worked a shift and a half. I don't know if he was leaving at the wrong time, but it didn't seem to affect his work rhythm.”