Scholes originally agreed to play in World Cup – Capello

Scholes famously rejected a place in Capello's 30-man provisional squad, pointing out he had not been given enough time to make his decision.

Given England's performances in South Africa, it was a decision that potentially had an impact on the Three Lions' campaign as a whole.

Yet Capello has insisted the initial conversations between Scholes and Franco Baldini were positive, before the Manchester United player got in touch the following morning to confirm some bad news.

"Franco spoke with him in the evening and he said yes," Capello said. "In the morning he said no because he preferred to stay at home."

As Scholes maintained his high standards into this season, producing man-of-the-match performances in the Community Shield and the opening Premier League match with Newcastle, there was further speculation the 35-year-old could be called up for the opening Euro 2012 double-header against Bulgaria and Switzerland.

However, it seems Scholes ruled that out as well.

"He said he is too old to play more games and in more competitions," said Capello.

"He prefers to be okay for Manchester United."

In fact, Scholes has admitted that at Christmas last year he thought he would have retired by now.

The veteran Manchester United star is currently one of the most talked-about players in the Premier League.

Although 2010 will go down as one of Scholes's best years as a professional, in his eyes, 2009 was one of the worst.

And, in a special interview for MUTV with former United European Cup winner Paddy Crerand, Scholes acknowledged things were so bad he was seriously considering whether to hang up his boots.

"At Christmas last season I did not think I would be playing in this one," he admitted.

"I wasn't playing well enough.

"The season before last I had an injury for three months and then from Christmas onwards my form wasn't brilliant. Leading up to Christmas last year it still wasn't great.

"I wasn't playing as much as I would have liked but you need to be playing well to get into the team.

"I set myself high standards. I want to feel as though I am contributing to the team. If I am not doing that what is the point of being here?"

Fortunately, Sir Alex Ferguson had other ideas.

The United boss reassured Scholes he was still making a valuable contribution to the Red Devils' cause and after taking the club to within a point of what would have been his 10th Premier League title, Capello made his move.

Scholes has already admitted he regrets saying no to the under-fire England chief.

However, the summer break does mean he is fresh at the moment and ready to make a positive impact when his appearances start to get rationed as the games mount up.

"The manager has handled me, Ryan (Giggs) and Gary (Neville) the same way for the last couple of seasons and I am sure this season will be no different," he said.

"If I am playing well enough, maybe I will play 25 or 30 games.

"You want to play every game but at our age, you can't."