5 best French players to have played in the Premier League

#2 Eric Cantona

Eric ‘King’ Cantona

Football analyst Michael Cox described Eric Cantona as the biggest revolutionary in the Premier League. Signing for Manchester United from Leeds United in 1992, the Frenchman was deployed as a deep-lying forward in a 4-4-2.

Cantona was a match-winner. When United under Sir Alex Ferguson – although not very often – needed someone to dig them out of a whole, the Frenchman was there. The No. 7 may have been missing for much of the game, but that moment of magic propelled him to one of the Premier League’s best foreign imports.

Many footballers qualm under pressure. But not Cantona. He was idolised by fans, and still to this day, the deep-lying forward is a maverick in English football.