The transfer was, however, seen as a good piece of business by most football pundits, removing a turbulent player from the team.Cantona left Leeds for Manchester United for £1.2 million on 26 November 1992.

A bakery in north Leeds sold the 'Cantona Bagel'. Eric had a reputation for flitting from club to club.” But we’re getting ahead of ourselves: Eric Cantona’s 1992/93 had started at Leeds United – and started extremely well. Years before the seagulls followed the trawlers, West Yorkshire was in the middle of a serious love affair with Cantona. “Yeah right, absolutely no chance,” was his first reaction. In 2011, Cantona said that the attack on the Crystal Palace supporter was "a great feeling" and a memory he is happy for fans to treasure, but "... it was a mistake".However, after defeat to Tottenham on New Year's Day, United went unbeaten for 12 consecutive league matches, including Cantona's first visit to Selhurst Park since he was banned,Cantona's ban meant he was not eligible to appear in their League Cup or UEFA Cup campaigns, but he did score in four of Manchester United's six matches on the way to the Cantona was named as Manchester United's captain for the At the end of the season he announced that he was retiring from football at the age of 30.Returning to Britain in 2003 to pick up the Overseas Player of the Decade Award at the In 2004, Cantona was quoted as saying, "I'm so proud the fans still sing my name, but I fear tomorrow they will stop. Originally, Cantona began to follow in his father's footsteps and often played as a goalkeeper, but his creative instincts began to take over and he would play up front more and more often.

The pair combined excellently. “He was polite and considered, and drove a modest car and lived in a modest house,” said Gary Neville.
Shirts and fists were thrown.

He struck it with venom and bent it past the flailing Grobbelaar. The popularity of the name Eric rose. It was like he said: ‘I’m Eric, and I’m here to win the title for you.’”On the training ground, youngsters like Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville idolised him.

Gary Pallister was told the news by a journalist, who first made him guess who his boss had just splashed out for (“I was stunned”).Lee Sharpe didn’t believe it either. And it’s not pushing it to pinpoint it as Year Zero for the box-fresh Premier League, either.

Dubbed the 'Mission Impossible', Cantona and An exhausted Leeds then stumbled to a 4–2 defeat at Cantona did however start in the 4–0 defeat at Manchester City on 7 November, but put in a hapless performance along with the rest of the team. The manager told him he looked fantastic.”Luckily, the rest of the squad didn’t resent him. Burning his bridges in France, Cantona arrived in England a flawed genius in January 1992. In his first season, the first of the Premier League era, he cultivated what would become the hallmarks of United for two decades: attacking football, ingenuity, aggression and an utter insistence on winning. Eric helped grab crucial draws at Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday, then scored as the Reds dismantled Coventry City and Spurs.

He accepted Eric’s occasional maverick tendencies, and let him abide by a different set of rules, because he knew it would work. Eric Cantona starred in the 1992 Charity Shield final, when Leeds last played in the game. The request was turned down and two days later, following a meeting in Paris with Alex Ferguson, he declared that he would remain at the club. “For me, Cantona was an amazing player for the club and I need to do much better to be compared with him.“I’m really happy for what I have done, but I’m not satisfied like the coach said.”United face Sevilla in the last four of the Europa League on Sunday hoping to get third time lucky after falling at the semi-final hurdle in the League Cup to Manchester City and in the FA Cup to Chelsea.“Coming to Manchester is about winning trophies.
Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Cantona had not divided the squad: in fact, he’d fostered a new togetherness. Cantona was United's top scorer with 26 goals in all competitions.In the 1994–95 season, Manchester United looked to win a third successive league title, and for the first half of the season things went smoothly enough for player and club. 'He's doing all he can about trying to secure a place in the team. Bruno Fernandes' impact at United had been likened to Cantona's when he arrived from Leeds in 1992. All rights reserved. 'Based on reports this week, he might get that shot if he can achieve his current goal – securing promotion and the Championship with There have been suggestions that the winners of the Championship could be invited to play in the Community Shield if the Leeds are on course for that, although plenty can change over the last four games of the season in the second-tier, with promotion not even close to being secured.Bielsa is a man known as El Loco because he's so disciplined that it becomes eccentric. After some back and forth, a fee between £1m and £1.2m was settled upon. As "When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. And when he was hailed at the Town Hall after the title was won, he told Leeds fans: 'Why I love you?