Eric Cantona has been described as the greatest Premier League signing ever by Jamie Carragher (Image: @TheOverlap/Youtube)
Jamie Carragher has hailed Eric Cantona’s move to Manchester United as the greatest Premier League transfer of all time. Carragher – who played for United’s fierce rivals Liverpool for his entire career – could not look beyond Cantona’s arrival at Old Trafford in 1992 when discussing the league’s best-ever signings.
Cantona is revered by a generation of United fans and symbolises the start of a golden era at Old Trafford. The enigmatic Frenchman first arrived in England from Nimes in January 1992, when Leeds United snapped him up for an initial loan fee of £100,000, before sealing the deal permanently that April.
The forward made an immediate impact at Elland Road, netting three goals as Leeds clinched the league – then known as the First Division. But disagreements with Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson led to him submitting a transfer request in November 1992, setting the stage for his highly controversial move to their Red Devils rivals for £1million.
Eric Cantona signed from rivals Leeds and won the league in his first season with Man United (Image: Getty)
His impact was immediate. Sir Alex Ferguson’s team were languishing in eighth place when he joined but only suffered two league defeats after Cantona’s arrival, finishing 10 points clear at the top of the table and becoming champions for the first time in 26 years.
Not only did Cantona become the first player to win the top flight consecutively with two different teams, he was the spark that ignited United’s dominant run under Ferguson and established them as the most successful English side ever. Sky Sports pundit Carragher believes these factors make Cantona the standout transfer in Premier League history despite his move coming just months after the league was first launched.
The Liverpool legend’s comments came on The Overlap when discussing the best and worst transfers ever in the Premier League after journalist David Ornstein had mentioned another Frenchman – N’Golo Kante – as his own top choice.
Carragher said: “I would’ve always said Cantona, but when you’ve just said Kante then, you do think about it don’t you? Winning the title with two teams. Obviously Cantona did that too with Leeds then he moved to United. I’d probably still go for Cantona above Kante actually, thinking about what Man United became. It became a monster in terms of revenue and money.”
Eric Cantona won four league titles with Man Utd (Image: Getty)
Ornstein had made a convincing argument for Kante, saying: “I think it’s N’Golo Kante, he came from nowhere at very little cost to Leicester City, helped them win a title at 5000/1 odds and then went to win multiple major trophies with Chelsea and the French national team. He’s an incredible footballer to this day and he’s a wonderful person as well, so that’s going to get my vote.”
Kante was signed for just £5.6m by Leicester in August 2015, arriving from Ligue 1 side Caen. The tireless midfielder played a crucial role in Leicester winning the Premier League that season before securing a move to Chelsea, where he won the Premier League again, an FA Cup, the Champions League and the Europa League over seven seasons.
Cantona, who was of course no stranger to controversy during his time with United, enjoyed a successful four-and-a-half-year stint with the club before retiring. His illustrious career saw him clinch four league titles and two FA Cups.
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1943691/jamie-carragher-man-utd-transfer-eric-cantona