Peter Schmeichel has revealed why Sir Alex Ferguson went against popular opinion to sign one of the Premier League’s most transformative players in Eric Cantona.
Cantona was not only one of, if not the, league’s most transformative player and the £1.2million Manchester United paid Leeds in 1992 will seem like one of the biggest bargains ever.
The Frenchman was the missing piece of the puzzle for Ferguson, helping win the Premier League title in his debut season after signing, and the rest is history.
Many doubted the transfer at the time after a nomadic career had given Cantona a reputation of being too hard to handle, but that was what attracted Ferguson, as Schmeichel explains in his new book.
“What Fergie was really good at was understanding exactly what a team needed and finding not just the right player but the right type,” Schmeichel explains.
“Someone independent, strong-minded, who could stand up for themselves whatever the circumstances.
“They didn’t have to be loud but they had to have character, and the hairdryer was only used rarely. He hand-picked personalities who could handle confrontation. Gary Neville, for example, was a big player because of his mentality more than his ability.
“In Eric Cantona’s case, he looked at his background as a strength not a weakness. Six clubs in France? He got kicked out of them because he had a desire and strength of character that others couldn’t handle.
“And someone who gets into so much trouble and gets dumped so many times yet still wants to play – well, that guy must have an unbelievable love for football. That is what Fergie saw.
“He encouraged the individuality in Eric and made no excuses to the rest of the squad about treating him differently. However, all the stories about Eric getting leeway when it came to things like dress code — they are true, but the significance gets overblown. Because Fergie treated every player differently to an extent. Everyone was managed and dealt with according to their personality.”
Cantona helped trigger the first of Ferguson’s 13 Premier League titles in 1992/93, paving the way for the legendary manager’s dominance of the division up until his retirement in 2013.
The former No.7 picked up four of those titles and became a cult figure at the club, before retiring to pursue a career in acting and beach football.
Schmeichel recalls the day Cantona moved to Manchester, and how just one season of action in England with Leeds convinced him the new arrival was going to be special.
“Eric Cantona was that little bit of something else. Eric was . . . Eric,” Schmeichel writes.
“The transfer, in 1992, happened so quickly that rumours he might be joining lasted only a day, but in that short time I remember thinking, ‘Let this happen, please let this happen.’ Because I thought he was incredible.
“I liked him the very first time I saw him on Match of the Day. I hated that he was playing for Leeds, of course, but from the moment he arrived in England I loved his different-ness. The 1992 Community Shield sealed the deal for me, watching him score three fantastic goals versus Liverpool. Wow, this guy is magnificent.”
Cantona had won the league title with United’s fierce rivals Leeds in the previous season, before becoming one of the faces of the Premier League when it began in 1992.
There were plenty of reasons for Schmeichel to be doubtful of his signing though.
“We already had someone a bit different in the dressing room – Andrei Kanchelskis,” Schmeichel explains.
“He didn’t speak the language and had an interpreter in the dressing room, this at a time when, apart from a few of us English-speaking Scandinavians, there were very few foreigners in the English game.
“But Eric was different-different. You know how rumours go around football? There was talk about how Eric was this proper weird guy, and we had heard it all. Silly stuff.
“Then there was the fact Leeds were offloading him, despite how superb he had been for them, and that chequered history, which everyone knew about, of him having six different clubs in France and often being in trouble there. Mystique surrounded him. Who is this guy?”
However, it didn’t take long for Schmeichel’s teammate to be just as convinced as he was.
“And then suddenly, boom, there he was at the Cliff training ground. His first day was unforgettable,” the former United No.1 writes.
“Eric walked in… and you expected something else. You expected someone else. A dominant character, maybe. Somebody flamboyant. But what came in through that dressing-room door was a very shy person.
“Someone who couldn’t look people in the eye, who felt so uncomfortable in his new surroundings that he quickly got changed and went out through the door to the pitch.
“At the Cliff, behind one of the goals, was the wall of the indoor arena and, without anyone to train with, Eric went there and started kicking a ball against the wall.
“He popped it up in the air, chested it down. Left foot, right foot, volleys, first-time touches. Boom, boom, boom – in perfect control of the ball. The canteen at the Cliff had windows on to the pitch. So did the manager’s office. And the coaches’ office and the treatment room. Everyone gathered to watch: What is he doing?
“He had people mesmerised. Among them were the kids. Paul Scholes, Butty [Nicky Butt], David Beckham, the Nevilles [Gary and Phil]. They were still in the younger group, who had a separate dressing room, and that first day they just watched Eric and said nothing.
“Then the next day – it was a bit like when the cat does something and then the kittens, slowly, slowly, sneak in and do the same thing – before you knew it, the young kids were out before training too, kicking balls against the wall.
“He infused a culture that you can improve your skills without having a coach there helping you.
“This evolved and soon you had Gary Neville practising throw-ins and crosses, Beckham practising corners and free kicks, and eventually everyone staying out after training to do some specialist work.”
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