The Best Bargain Transfers of All Time: Part Six

Posted by Rob Shepherd on Thursday, June 29, 2017

We have reached chapter 6 of our series as we continue our look at the best bargain transfers. Don’t be fooled by the cheap price tag, these players are special, very special indeed. So far, we have featured Jürgen Klinsmann, Ruud Gullit, Demba Ba, Gordon Strachan, Gary McAllister, Zlatan and Sol Campbell.

For today’s edition, we are going to concentrate on perhaps the most famous controversial French player ever, Eric Cantona. The self-proclaimed “King of Football” had everything. Unbelievable skills, supreme confidence and a certain panache that made Eric a legend at Manchester United and a world-wide footballing icon.

Eric Cantona, 1983, Auxerre – Youth Team

Cantona started his professional career at French club Auxerre where he spent two years playing for the youth setup. Even in those early days there were signs of disciplinary issues that would become synonymous with the fiery Frenchman.

Although Eric made his debut on 5th November 1983, he wouldn’t play many games before he was called up for National Service. This didn’t stop Cantona playing football though as he was heavily involved in the army football team.

After re-joining Auxerre after his spell in the forces, he was rewarded for good performances with a new contract. He also received a call up to play in the French national team.

In 1987, Cantona punched his team mate in the face and was lucky to escape with just a fine. In 1988, Eric was once again in trouble, this time due to a “Kung Fu” tackle on a Nantes player. For this offense, he was banned for three-months but this was later reduced to two when his club threatened to not release Eric for international games.

For his national side, Cantona was in good form and was part of the French under-21 side that won the 1988 U21 European Championship. English fans of the U21 will probably remember him scoring a hat-trick against England in the quarter-finals.

In 82 games for Auxerre, he scored 23 goals.

1988, 22 Million ₣₣ Marseille

Eric was a childhood Marseille fan and after his performances at U21 European Championship, Marseille placed a French record bid of 22 million French Francs for his services, this offer was accepted.

It didn’t take long for Eric to find himself in trouble.

He received a year ban from international football after insulting French manager Henri Michel on national television. He also found himself in trouble with his club when during a friendly game against Torpedo Moscow, Cantona kicked the ball into the crowd and ripped off his shirt when he saw he was being substituted. This reaction saw the club drop Eric for a month.

Cantona was struggling to make an impact at Marseille and his fiery temperament would often lead to confrontations with team mates. This led to Cantona being loaned out, firstly to Bordeaux and later, Montpellier.

At Montpellier, Cantona was involved in a fight with Jean-Claude Lemoult, during the incident Cantona threw his boots into Lemoult’s face. Not surprisingly, some of the first team were demanding that Cantona be kicked out of the club. He wasn’t but he was banned from the club for ten days.

Despite his behavioural issues, his form for Montpellier was good and Eric was instrumental in Montpellier winning the French Cup. The next season he returned to Marseille and helped them claim the title but as usual, Eric was at loggerheads with the club and would soon be leaving.

In 40 games for Marseille he scored 13 times. He made 11 appearances whilst on loan at Bordeaux and found the net six times. At Montpellier, he scored 10 goals in 33 league games.

1991, Undisclosed – Nimes

The Nimes chapter in the Eric Cantona story is not really notable for the football side of things, he played 17 games and scored 2 goals. It is of course the trouble he gets himself in that gets a mention. During a game, he was so angered by a decision that he threw the ball at the referee.

When summoned by the French Football Federation he was banned for one month. Rather than apologise and accept his punishment, he went to each and every member of the committee and called him an idiot to his face, his punishment was increased to two months.

For the first time, Cantona announced his retirement from football on 16 December 1991.

You would imagine with his record that many people would have been happy with that decision but let’s not forget that not only was he a great footballer, he was also a celebrity in France. This enfant terrible was also much publicised by the French press, never before had they experienced a poetic philosopher footballer whose rebellious attitude was typically French.

Always a great person to interview with his no-holds barred style, he also had many admirers in the football world. One such person was the French national manager and legend Michel Platini. Platini convinced Cantona to reverse his decision and try England for a comeback.

What I find utterly amazing is that Michel Platini approached the then Liverpool manager Graeme Souness and told Souness he was available for transfer. Souness refused the offer, understandably stating team harmony as being the reason. But can you imagine how different things would have been if Cantona had signed for Liverpool. A sliding doors comment I know but I doubt Liverpool would have been on this current league title drought if they had taken a punt on Cantona back then.

1992, £900,000 – Leeds United

Cantona didn’t go straight to Leeds United, he first went on trial for Sheffield Wednesday. Wednesday had only just been promoted to the top flight and unlike today, money wasn’t awash at teams outside the top 6 so they were unable to afford a deal to sign Eric, he instead joined Leeds.

Cantona is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t read too much into statistics in football. I know that is a bit hypocritical of me as I love stats but in no way do Eric’s stats of 15 appearances and three goals represent how amazing Eric was that year!

While he wasn’t hitting the net himself, his assists to team mates was pivotal in a year that saw Leeds United crowned winners of the very last League One title (the Premier League).

The next season Eric started on fire! He scored a hat trick in the Charity Shield and became the first ever scorer of a hat trick in the newly formed Premier League.

Harold Wilkinson, who was Leeds United at the time called Alex Ferguson in the hope of signing Dennis Irwin. Ferguson turned down Wilkinson’s request but in hope rather than any real conviction that Leeds would sell, asked Wilkinson if Cantona was for sale.

1992, Manchester United – £1,000,000

The signing of Cantona was a seismic shock to the footballing world.

Leeds fans were outraged that one of their best players had been sold, to make it worse it was to Manchester United, their hated rivals. The press were also quick to point out Cantona’s fiery temperament which ironically is quite similar to Alex Ferguson’s own, it had all the ingredients to make a train wreck.

On the 6th December 1992, Cantona made his competitive début against Manchester City. He came on as a second half substitute.

It’s worth remembering that United were not doing great in the league before Eric joined. A severe lack of strikers had cost United heavily the season before and this pattern looked like it would continue this year.

Alan Shearer was a long-time target but had twice rejected United to join Newcastle and Blackburn, if United were to improve on the runners up spot to Leeds, they would need to score more.

On the 19th of December 1992, Cantona scored his first goal for his new club against Chelsea away at Stamford Bridge. A week later he would score a vital goal in a 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday, United fought back from 3-0 in that game and I personally feel it was that game that started the successful Fergie era. After that game, they had belief… After that game the king was born!

Did this mean Eric had finally chilled out? Not a chance! When United went to Elland Road to play Cantona’s former club Leeds, he spat at a fan and was fined £1,000 by the FA.

At the end of the season, United won the league easily. A 10-point gap proved too much for Aston Villa to catch. United had finally won a title for the first time since 1967. The 26-year-wait was over for United fans.

1993-94 Season

In the 1993-94 season, Manchester United retained the Premier League. Cantona’s two penalties in the FA Cup Final also meant United achieved the double. Cantona was in unstoppable form (except when banned), he scored 26 goals and won the PFA Player of the Year, the first foreigner to do so.

Of course, it wasn’t all plain sailing, it never is with Cantona. Eric was sent off in an extremely ugly incident in a fiery match with Galatasaray. Towards the end of the match, Cantona swore at the referee and was sent off. However, as Eric was leaving the pitch you could see a policeman attacking him with a baton. Typical of Cantona, this is what Roy Keane would say about the incident in his biography;

“In the dressing room, Eric went crazy,” Keane recalled in his autobiography. “While the rest of us just wanted to get out of there, Eric was determined to sort out the rogue cop who had been wielding his truncheon.

“Eric was a big, strong lad. He was serious. He insisted he was going to kill that f***er. It took the combined efforts of the manager, Brian Kidd and a few of the players to restrain him.” The players were ordered to shower two at a time so Cantona would not be left alone in the dressing room. Then he was led to the bus, which was soon to have bricks put through its windows.

Domestically, Cantona was also in hot water. In March, he was sent off in successive Premier League games, against Swindon and Arsenal, and received a five-match ban.

1994 – 1995 Season

If Cantona had been controversial before this season, it was nothing compared to the shit storm that he would soon create!

Performance wise, Cantona was in great form, he started the season by helping Manchester United lift the Charity Shield and scored a goal in the process. By the mid-way point of the season, United looked odds on to claim another double.

25th January 1995 is a day that will forever live on in football infamy.

United were playing Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Cantona had just been sent off for a kick out on Richard Shaw. Cantona seemed to be taking a slow walk back to the tunnel when suddenly, he started running and launched into a two footed Kung Fu kick into a spectator. He then started trading blows with the “fan”.

Footage later shows the fan, Mathew Simmons had ran down 11 flights of stairs to goad the Frenchman. “Fu*k off to France, you French mother*cker” he can be seen shouting.

After the incident, many called for a lifetime ban for Cantona, it was obvious that the punishment was going to be severe. United tried to pre-empt the punishment and banned Eric for the rest of the season (approx. 4 months). Things went from bad to awful when Cantona was charged with assault and initially was given a two-week prison sentence but this was later reduced to 120 hours of community service.

At a press conference later, Cantona gave his most famous speech ever. He declared, “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much” and promptly left the room. The media and football world were stunned.

Eric was stripped of the French captaincy and in fact, never played for his country again. More bad news was on the horizon when the Football Association then increased the ban to eight months. FA Chief Executive at the time, Graham Kelly said of Cantona that he was “a stain on our game”. FIFA made the ban world-wide so Cantona was unable to play for any club or even with the reserves or in friendly matches. It seemed unlikely that Cantona would ever play for United again!

1995 – 1996 Season

You couldn’t have wished for a better game for Cantona to make his long-awaited return, a match against bitter rivals, Liverpool. Within two minutes he provided an assist for Nicky Butt and scored a penalty to ensure a 2-0 win, the King was back!

On his return to Selhurst Park to play Wimbledon (due to Wimbledon ground sharing with Palace), it was expected to be a severe test of Cantona’s self-control but on this occasion his feet were used for scoring and his two goals helped to down Palace.

Cantona’s influence was immense and his contributions helped United to overturn a 10-point deficit to claim the league once again.

Eric was named as captain in the FA Cup final and predictably it was Cantona who scored the only goal of the game to once again beat Liverpool and become the first team to ever complete the “double double”. Cantona also became the first non-British player to lift the FA Cup.

1996 – 1997 Season

On the field, Cantona was named as club captain and once again he was instrumental to yet another league triumph. In every full season Cantona had played (except the ban year), United had won the league.

At the end of the season, Cantona announced he was quitting football to become an actor with immediate effect. He was just aged 30-year-old.

Cantona would later say of his retirement, “”When you quit football it is not easy, your life becomes difficult. I should know because sometimes I feel I quit too young. I loved the game but I no longer had the passion to go to bed early, not to go out with my friends, not to drink, and not to do a lot of other things, the things I like in life.”

Cantona deserves his place in our list of the best bargain transfers of all time, not once but twice! Leeds bought a player for £800,000 who became a missing piece in an unlikely title winning jigsaw.

United for £1,000,000 found a player that revolutionised and energised a team that the previous year had fallen short. During his time at United he won 5 titles, 2 FA Cups, 5 Super Cups and a Premier League Player of the Year award.

The King is dead, long live the King.