Why did Leeds sell Eric Cantona to Manchester United? - Four Four Two 3/2/22
By Chris Flanagan
Eric Cantona won the league in his short spell at Leeds before he was promptly sold to Manchester United, where he added four more titles to his collectioon. So why did Leeds let him go?
When Leeds United decided to sell Eric Cantona to Manchester
United, they probably didn’t realise it would help their rivals become
England’s most dominant club for the next 20 years.
Cantona joined Leeds midway through the 1991/92 campaign,
helping them pip Manchester United to the league title that season - even if
the club’s existing strike partnership between Lee Chapman and Rod Wallace
meant that he only actually started six matches, scoring three goals.
At the start of 1992/93, Cantona netted a hat-trick in the
Charity Shield against Liverpool, then repeated the feat soon afterwards
against Spurs - becoming the first player ever to bag a treble in the
newly-formed Premier League. “He was incredible on his day,” said former Leeds
defender Jon Newsome.
But with the club quickly struggling to match their
title-winning form, the Frenchman’s relationship with Leeds boss Howard
Wilkinson broke down - when he was substituted after a disappointing
performance in a Champions League defeat to Rangers at Ibrox, Cantona walked
straight down the tunnel, and was dropped for the next match at QPR.
“Rangers was the start of his downfall,” Newsome said.
“History has shown that Eric was a very headstrong individual, and under Howard
Wilkinson you all had your own roles to play on the field. If you didn’t do
what he asked you to do, it was quite simple, he’d get someone else to do it
and you wouldn’t be playing. Eric wanted to do things his own way.
“Howard Wilkinson and Alex Ferguson are two very different
people, and they handled him in two very different ways. By the time we played
QPR, it was obvious that Eric and Howard weren’t seeing eye to eye.”
Cantona did briefly return to the line-up, but the reigning
champions slipped to 14th in the Premier League, and he was dropped again after
a November League Cup defeat at second-tier Watford - responding by handing in
a transfer request, and demanding to join Manchester United, Liverpool or
Arsenal.
Wilkinson tried to find a buyer in Italy, Spain or France,
but found no takers. Then, the forward came up in conversation when Leeds
managing director Bill Fotherby called Manchester United chairman Martin
Edwards to enquire about signing Denis Irwin. By chance, Alex Ferguson was sat
opposite Edwards, and passed him a note. “Ask about Cantona.”
Manchester United were only eighth in the league, having
scored just 17 goals in 16 games. Ferguson had missed out on Alan Shearer to
Blackburn in the summer, then signed Dion Dublin from Cambridge, only for the
target man to break his leg.
The Scot initially responded by trying to sign David Hirst
from Sheffield Wednesday. That bid failed, but Manchester United had better
luck with Cantona. So keen were Leeds to move him on, that they agreed to sell
him to their bitter rivals.
The fee was said to be £1.2m, but Edwards later revealed on
BBC documentary Fever Pitch that Manchester United actually only paid £1m - a
higher figure was announced to prevent Fotherby coming in for too much
criticism from Leeds fans.
