Aberdeen legend Joe Harper has paid tribute to “Scotland’s greatest ever player” Denis Law who he says was better than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Manchester United and Scotland legend Law, known as ‘The King’ has died at the age of 84.
Aberdeen born and raised, Law is Scotland’s joint top goal-scorer with 30 goals and was capped 55 times by his country.
Law spent 11 years at Manchester United and with 237 goals in 404 appearances is third highest scorer for the Old Trafford club behind Wayne Rooney and Bobby Charlton.
It was during his time at Manchester United that Law won the Ballon d’Or, the only Scottish player to have received that accolade.
Real Madrid, Manchester United and Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo has been awarded the Ballon d’Or five times.
Harper believes Law was a better player.
He said: “Denis is one of the best ever European players and Scotland’s greatest player.
“His passing is heartbreaking and a mammoth blow to every Scottish football fan.
“Denis was a fabulous player on the park and an absolute gentleman off it.
“He was the perfect player and person who didn’t have a bad bone in him.
“Denis won the Ballon d’Or which is a class that includes all the world footballing greats.
“He can hold his own with anyone in that Ballon d’Or class.
“I think Denis was a better player than Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Denis didn’t only score goals for fun he made a lot of them.
“He would have thrived in the modern game.”
‘Denis was an absolute genius’
Law began his career at Huddersfield Town from 1956 to 1960 before moving to Manchester City.
A year later, he joined Torino for £110,000 before transferring to Manchester United for £115,000 in 1962.
He was part of the United team that became the first team from England to lift the European Cup in 1968.
However he missed the final, a 4-1 win against Benfica, due to injury.
Law won two league titles and an FA Cup with Manchester United.
He ended his playing career with Manchester City in 1974.
Harper said: “Denis was an absolute genius as a football player.
“Unfortunately I didn’t have the chance to play with Denis but I had the joy of watching him play for Scotland.
“It was amazing how well he got up for the ball.
“Denis was a wonderful footballer.”
‘Heartbreaking for Scottish football’
After retiring from playing Law was very active in charity work.
In 2016 he was appointed CBE for services to football and charity.
The Denis Law Legacy Trust delivers programmes to widen sporting engagement in communities.
In 2021, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.
Harper said: “I was in Denis’ company a number of times and he was great to talk with.
“I watched a game with him in the box at Pittodrie.
“It was just the two of us talking football and he had such fantastic passion and knowledge of football.
“Being in his company was great.
“It is a heartbreaking day for Scottish football.”
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