Manchester City's director of football development Patrick Vieira has hit out at Manchester United for requesting Paul Scholes to come out of retirement this season.

The former England international hung up his boots last summer but returned to the English champions midway through this year's campaign.

While ex-Arsenal midfielder Vieira praises the current form of the Red Devils veteran, the former France international believes that enlisting his help shows a sign of "weakness" on United's part.

"Paul Scholes is a player that I really love and admire, one of the best English players of the last few years, and seeing him come back is good for him and for United," Vieira told The Telegraph.

"But for him to come back just shows a little bit of weakness in United, because they had to bring a player back who was 37."

United have launched to the top of the Premier League table, while Man City sit four points behind their Manchester rivals.