I rate forgotten Man Utd ace as my toughest ever opponent – he was superior at everything

Joleon Lescott has surprisingly named Louis Saha as the toughest ever opponent he came up against in his professional footballing days.

A sentinel centre-half, Lescott made his way through the Wolverhampton Wanderers youth set-up before signing a professional contract with the Midlands side on the turn of the millennium. And it was as a youngster that he came up against Saha, who was playing for Fulham at the time.

Saha showed his class for Manchester United, scoring 42 goals in 124 appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson, winning two Premier League titles and a coveted Champions League in 2008. Although he was often upstaged in the 00s due to United's array of attacking talent, such as Wayne Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo.

READ MORE: Louis Saha raises Matthijs de Ligt concerns for Man United – and Rio Ferdinand agrees

READ MORE: Louis Saha hails Man United's 'clever' business as star seen arriving at Carrington

On the Football's Greatest podcast, host Jeff Stelling said to Lescott: "I don't think anybody will pick this guy but of course a footballer's perspective is very different to a football fan's perspective isn't it? So tell me, who is the No. 1 striker you've played against Joleon?"

To which, Lescott shockingly said: "Louis Saha – King Louis. I was at Wolves and these are players that have given me the toughest time. At Wolves, he's at Fulham – Fulham are top of the league, averaged 2.5 goals a game. Top of the league first 10 games of the season – so I'm aware this is going to be a tough game.

"I go into the game thinking it's going to be tough... 0-0, I get man of the match thinking, 'It's not as tough as I thought'. Fast forward four weeks, I played him in the cup, I'm