Fergie draws comparisons between Cantona and Van Persie transfers

On the 20th anniversary of Eric Cantona’s arrival at United, Sir Alex has drawn comparisons between the signing of Eric back in 1992 and the signing of Robin Van Persie this summer. It’s clear to see that Van Persie’s impact has been significant, but seeing the Dutchman have as much of an effect as Cantona would certainly be a joy to behold and a shock. Cantona changed the way we played, changed the mentality of the club, and sparked the most successful period our club has ever seen. Unfortunately, we’ll never have anybody quite like Cantona again, but Sir Alex still reminisces of the day we signed ‘the King.’

Recalling the time when Sir Alex asked Leeds about Cantona’s availability, he said “Well, Leeds’ Bill Fotherby phoned up looking for Denis Irwin and that’s a perfect example of how things were done in those days. I was in the office with Martin Edwards when he phoned and I scribbled on Martin’s page ‘Cantona’ so he says: ‘What about Cantona? Is he available?’ There was silence from Fotherby for a minute or two and then he said: ‘He could be’. An hour later, he phoned back and said: ‘Yes but we want 900,000 pounds’. You don’t get them any more!”