Speaking exclusively to the Athletic, Eric Cantona revealed he offered himself to former Manchester United CEO Ed Woodward to become the president of the club.
Cantona played for United between 1992 and 1997 after moving from arch-rivals Leeds United, and there’s no doubt the Frenchman’s return to the club would have been welcomed with open arms by all.
The striker cemented his legendary status at the club when guiding United to their first league title since 1967 in his first season, whilst netting 82 times in 185 games.
He won four league titles and two FA Cup’s in his time in Manchester.
Cantona said: “I met him (Ed Woodward) a few times. But they did not accept it. I still think me or somebody else, they should have somebody for football. It should be somebody from the club, who knows football and the club.”
Over the recent summer, there has been a huge restructure at Old Trafford, with senior figures like Matt Judge and scout Marcel Bout following Woodward out the door.
John Murtough and Darren Fletcher are said to play a leading role in transfer activity and other footballing dealings, with the pair then reporting back to chairman Joel Glazer, however, Cantona reveals he proposed to the club to “change their way”.
“Ed Woodward is great at marketing, but not great at football. United should have a chairman and then they should have a president of marketing and then a president of football, who is in charge of all the decisions in football. So I proposed to them that I should be president of football,” said Cantona.
A president of a club is something unusual across England but is a more common role across major European clubs.
When pointed out by the Athletic interviewer Adam Crafton that United do have a football director in Murtough, Cantona replied: “Yes, but it is not a president of football.”
Since Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement in 2013, United have lacked direction from the top, spending over a billion pounds on transfers, with the results mirroring the board’s lack of ambition.