This week’s transfers have been defined by the signing of two players to their former clubs.
 
One is 34-year-old Thierry Henry back to Arsenal and the other, 36-year-old Paul Scholes back to Manchester United. And that is where the line is drawn in terms of what is similar between the signings.
 
Getting Henry was a stroke of genius by Arsene Wenger, but the signing of Scholes back to Manchester United was sadly a horrible mistake on Sir Alex Ferguson’s part.
 
Thierry Henry is a player who left the club, and came back as an active player.  Paul Scholes on the other hand retired and stopped playing, and then returned - that is a major difference.
 
What Henry brings is another option for Arsene Wenger in an area where his team has a weakness. He provides cover for Gervinho while away at the African Cup of Nations, and provides backup to Andrei Arshavin who has been playing on the left but poorly of late.
 
What Scholes brings is absolutely nothing.
 
When I was watching the match between Manchester United and Manchester City in the FA Cup, I thought the game was going to be interesting. Suddenly Ferguson decided that he wanted to make it 10 versus 10 again by taking off Nani and bringing on Scholes.
 
He entered playing in central midfield and in a position where Michael Carrick was already, but what for? Carrick was already there playing reasonably well and passing the ball around but then Scholes comes in and was supposed to do the same thing. What was the point?
 
I do not even think this can be classified as a short-term quick fix. Scholes is probably not even going to contribute anything on the pitch despite what the media says. The one thing United needed was to find a midfielder who could bomb forward and score goals.
 
Instead they brought back Paul Scholes, who has not been able to do that for the past three seasons at least. I suspect that United have no money to spend, and need to do something to move forward, otherwise who knows, they might just bring Eric Cantona back!
 
The sad thing though is that Ferguson has to play him in the end because if you play him, it’s a joke, but if you do not play him, it’s an even bigger joke. Players like Carrick, Anderson and even Tom Cleverley will suffer in the end because they will be playing with a former great who is clearly past his prime.
 
In my time, playing alongside senior players was good when they were at their best, you gained experience and learnt your trade from them. Furthermore, when I became a senior player myself, I felt that I could contribute and provide leadership to the younger players, and I clearly knew when it was time to leave the game.
 
Playing alongside players on the wane and clearly past their best bears no significance to the team and sends out the wrong message.
 
For Scholes to want to come back and the club to accept him as well, is outrageous. Why did he retire in the first place? Again this is an example of players being selfish and thinking about themselves wanting to play instead of considering what do they have left to contribute to the club.
Another player who may feel he can still contribute to his club but is not being as warmly accepted as Scholes is Chelsea’s 33-year-old Frank Lampard. With the new reign under Andre Villas Boas, Lampard has been consigned to being a squad player. But time and again he still pops up to score a goal or two - and that is exactly what he is meant to do now as an impact player.
 
As a squad player, and an established and ageing star, he has to work his way back to the first team and then decide if he wants to stay at the club or gain a regular first team place in another club.
 
I believe that Lampard is still a quality player, but if he thinks he is good enough to play 90 minutes every game, he is sadly mistaken. There were games he started but had to be taken off because he did could not give the team an edge. To accommodate him in the midfield, Chelsea would have to change their midfield shape just to protect the back four.
 
Football is not just about popping up and scoring a goal. It is ultimately a team sport and playing a role that supports the team.
 
Finally, a team who will have no such problems with ageing players would be the top side at the moment - Manchester City. They have no players over 30 years-old in their starting line-up and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
 
Age is not an indicator on how well your team is doing and Manchester City is a great example. They are currently at the top of the table and are clearly moving in the right direction.
 
So at the end of the day, who needs an old head like Paul Scholes?
 
Catch Shebby Singh on ESPN and his insights during ESPN’s presentation of the Barclays Premier League highlights.