On this day in 1992, Sir Alex Ferguson pulled off arguably his best bit of business as manager of Manchester United, when he signed Eric Cantona for £1.2m. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
Born was the king and his Manchester United career. He was first introduced to the United crowd without warning when he was a halftime substitute for Ryan Giggs, who was forced off injured. Ten days earlier, he was the poster boy of Leeds United, but now he was being plunged into a Manchester derby which United won 2–1.
Three months prior to his move, he scored the first hat-trick of the Premier League era, netting for the all-whites against Tottenham Hotspur. Although everything appeared rosy, the relationship with his manager, Howard Wilkinson, was in fact rocky. Eric Cantona – a combustible character – was reportedly unsettled, and after nine calm months in Yorkshire, something was simmering again.
United were struggling to find form following the previous season’s capitulation, which saw Cantona and his colleagues clinch the last ever First Division title. Sir Alex Ferguson reacted by securing his signature in bizarre fashion.
How United signed Cantona
Cantona was not United’s first-choice transfer target – David Hirst was. But Sheffield Wednesday refused to accept a British record £3.5 million bid, leaving United to look at alternative options.
Leeds United chairman Bill Fotherby had phoned United chairman Martin Edwards to probe the possibility of prising away Denis Irwin before the idea was indignantly ignored. As the discussion drifted to Leeds striker Lee Chapman, Ferguson suddenly pressed his chairman to pursue Cantona, the fiery Frenchman left out of the previous weekend’s clash with Arsenal.
Fotherby, keenly aware that Cantona had not only fallen out of Wilkinson’s favour but was also close to triggering a looming £500,000 loyalty payment, later admitted: “I said absolutely no way and that it was impossible. But obviously, I knew what Howard felt about him, and I knew this additional payment was due.”
An hour later, Fotherby returned Edwards’s call, and the deal was swiftly agreed.
“Manchester United manager Ferguson could hardly disguise his delight as he paraded Cantona, his dramatic £1.2 million capture from Leeds, at Old Trafford today,” described the Press Association’s Rob King. “Despite Ferguson’s thick Glaswegian tones and Frenchman Cantona’s halting English, the smiles on both men’s faces needed no interpreter as they met the media.”
Cantona’s impact on United
“He has the style, skill and arrogance which will delight our supporters,” beamed Edwards. “The signing represents a coup for Manchester United and their supporters. There are not many names in the English game that set pulses racing, but Eric is certainly in that category.”
Cantona’s impact on the Reds was transformative. He had undeniable talent, but he possessed talismanic traits to match. From his very first game in a United shirt, he showed a swagger that had been missing. Before Cantona, United’s belief had burst – but he brought it back with a buoyancy.
Cantona quickly built up a catalogue of magical moments for United. The Chelsea goal, the Spurs masterclass, even the halfway-line effort at Stamford Bridge drew praise from John Motson, who declared: “Who needs Pele?” He inspired dramatic nights like the 3–2 derby comeback, where Martin Tyler said he was “conducting the orchestra.” And in 1995/96, his return from suspension shaped the season: crucial 1–0 wins and the late FA Cup final winner over Liverpool, sealing the Double Double.
In more recent times, Robin van Persie or Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a similar impact, but Cantona’s was greater. “When I think of football I think of Manchester United,” said Cantona. The sentiments between himself and the supporters are shared. Viva le roi.
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