Schneiderlin On Cantona

Manchester United's Morgan Schneiderlin sings the praises of the first - and surely the greatest - Frenchman to wear the famous red shirt...

"The first time I saw Eric Cantona play I said: ‘Oh, that guy is elegant.’ I didn’t watch him live during the time he was at United but I watched a lot of videos. I remember my dad and uncle were very keen on him and talked about how classy he was on the pitch. I remember seeing one chip he scored [against Sunderland 19 years ago today in December 1996]. He then stood still to celebrate, just looking around the stands.

"He’s a United legend because of everything he did for this club but he was so special because he had a different character. He was someone that you had to respect because of the way he was. Some people walk into a room and you say: ‘Wow, he has something special’. Eric had that – it was just inside him. Even now when he speaks and when he does an interview, you have a lot of journalists waiting for certain words or something he might say that’s different. He would say very loudly what was in his head, like that line in his press conference when he came back from his suspension – amazing!

"It’s hard to say why he and United went together so well, but I think United is the biggest club in the world and he was maybe then the biggest character in the world game. I think of his charisma and the way he was and I think that’s what the English people, especially the United fans, liked very much.

"He was honest, a class player and a very talented player as well. Eric finished his career when he was very young but will always be a legend at this football club."