How Eric Cantona gained titles for rivals Leeds and Man Utd after ‘furious’ switch request
Manchester United’s signing of Eric Cantona from rivals Leeds for £1.2million is one of the most important and controversial transfers ever in the Premier League.
Le King arrived in England in 1991 when he joined Leeds from Nimes having previously won the French top flight twice with Marseille. Cantona’s signing was a huge risk after the maverick Frenchman had caused a number of shameful headlines in his homeland.
In 1987, Cantona punched his Auxerre team-mate Bruno Martini in the face during an argument and was slapped with a three-month ban for a kung-fu tackle on Nantes player Michel Der Zakarian, but his ability secured him a move to Marseille the following year.
Eric Cantona won the French title with Marseille
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But mad moments were never far away, despite growing up a Marseille fan, Cantona was suspended by the club for a month after kicking the ball in the crowd and ripping off his shirt after being substituted in a friendly against Torpedo Moscow in 1989
Just months earlier he called his French national team manager Henri Michel a “bag of s***” on national television, understandably earning him a year-long exile from the squad.
Having struggled to settle at Marseille, he was loaned to Montpellier, where he had a fight with team-mate Jean-Claude Lemoult and subsequently had six players demand he be sacked. However, Laurent Blanc and Carlos Valderrama implored the club to keep him, and he rewarded that decision by being an instrumental part of the French Cup-winning squad, convincing Marseille to bring him back in the process.
Cantona scored a hat-trick for Leeds in the Community Shield final against Liverpool
But that didn’t last long as he was shipped out to Nimes after falling out with chairman Bernard Tapie. And again, Cantona lost the plot when he briefly announced his retirement at just 25 after he called committee members ‘idiots’ during a disciplinary hearing after he threw a ball at a referee’s head.
On the advice of Gerard Houllier and a psychoanalyst, he headed to England to restart his career, joining Leeds after Graeme Souness reportedly turned down the chance to sign him for Liverpool.
Cantona repaid Leeds’ faith by helping the Whites to win the First Division title and scoring a hat-trick in the Community Shield final at Wembley against Liverpool in a 4-3 win on this day in 1992.
But yet again, trouble followed Cantona and in November he refused to report for training and sent a transfer request having been dropped while Leeds struggled to find form in their title defence in the newly revamped Premier League.
Just two days later, Leeds chairman Bill Fotherby phoned his United counterpart Martin Edwards to enquire about the availability of Denis Irwin. It just so happened that Edwards was in a meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson at the time.
Both agreed that the Irish left-back was not for sale but Ferguson, who identified his team needed a striker, instructed Edwards to ask whether Cantona was for sale. Fotherby replied he had to consult manager Howard Wilkinson, but days later the deal was done.
Ferguson paraded Cantona around the Old Trafford pitch(Image: PA)
Eric Cantona was the talisman of a new-look Manchester United(Image: Manchester United via Getty)
Fergie beamed from ear to ear as he paraded Cantona around Old Trafford. He knew he had found his talisman, and the legendary Scot was the perfect man for the Frenchman to thrive under.
Leeds fans were furious at Cantona’s impending move as the news broke; however, the deal was lauded as good business by pundits for removing a trouble-making player from the team. But that didn’t matter, not until two years later anyway.
Cantona’s arrival came as United were refinding their form having gone winless in seven league games, seeing their bid for a first title in 26 years look to be falling apart with just five wins in 15 games.
However, King Eric proved to be the catalyst as he spearheaded United’s resurgence and scored nine times and notched 11 assists in 22 games as United went on to win the league 10 points clear of Aston Villa – the club’s first league title since the days of Sir Matt Busby, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law in 1967.
Meanwhile, Leeds finished 17th and won just seven of 26 games after Cantona’s exit as the Frenchman became the only player to win the final First Division title and the first Premier League trophy.
Cantona then recorded his best-ever goalscoring season, netting 18 league goals as United successfully defended the title in the 1993/94 season, and scored twice in the 4-0 FA Cup final win over Chelsea.
Cantona inspired United to win their first league title in 26 years(Image: Getty Images)
Eric Cantona helped lead the Class of 92’s emergence into the first team(Image: (Photo by Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images))
Ferguson’s belief was truly vindicated, but it wasn’t just the Scot who could see Cantona’s potential unlock United. He recalled in his book ‘Leading’ after a game against Leeds in 1992: “I was in the bath with the players, which was highly unusual for me, listening to their analysis of the match, Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister were raving about Eric Cantona, the French striker Leeds had signed from Nimes.
“Steve Bruce was particularly complimentary about Cantona’s abilities. Somehow, those comments planted a seed, which soon afterwards led us to signing Eric from Leeds United.
“And we all know how that turned out! Listening, even just for a few moments, led to a decision that changed the landscape for Manchester United.”
Fergie added: “When Eric Cantona came, it was like the messiah. Players loved him. The young players loved him. His presence, his confidence, his stature.
“I always remember he came on as a sub against Manchester City for his first game at half-time and he made a six-yard pass – it was the best six-yard pass I’ve ever seen in my life!”
Eric Cantona enjoyed a glittering spell at Old Trafford during his playing career(Image: Getty Images)
The only season Cantona failed to win the league at United was during the 1994/95 season when he was banned and faced a criminal charge of assault for kung-fu kicking a racist Crystal Palace fan after being sent off in a game at Selhurst Park.
Cantona was banned for the rest of the season as United lost the league to Blackburn Rovers by one point. Everyone was out to get Cantona; FA Chief Executive Graham Kelly slammed the attack as “a stain on our game”, FIFA confirmed his suspension worldwide and he was stripped of the France captaincy.
Despite requesting to terminate his United contract, Ferguson convinced Cantona to remain and he made his return to the pitch eight months later against Liverpool, scoring and assisting in a 2-2 draw.
Le King scored 14 times as United reclaimed the title, and he scored a late winner to beat Liverpool in the 1996 FA Cup final, before netting 11 as United won the league for a fourth time in five years in the 1996/97 season – the final year of his career. He hung up his boots at Old Trafford with four Premier League titles and two FA Cups.
While he didn’t win the Champions League, his support and leadership nurturing the growing Class of 92 stars laid the foundation for the historic 1999 Treble. Cantona was quite possibly United and Fergie’s greatest-ever signing, and arguably the most inspired in Premier League history.
