Graeme Souness has revealed he turned down the opportunity to sign Eric Cantona
Cantona was at the time in murky waters at French club Nimes before he moved to England
‘My story about Eric Cantona...' Souness began, speaking on The Football Show on Sky Sports.
'I was manager of Liverpool, we’d lost 2-0 away to Auxerre, came back and beat them 3-0. After the game, there was a guy outside who said he was a good pal of mine, and it was Michel Platini.
'Not a close pal of mine, only time I came into contact with him was when I was in Italy, he was at Juventus and I was at Sampdoria.
Souness coached Liverpool, a club he also captained as a player, from 1991-1994
The French maverick went on to sign for Leeds Utd in January 1992 before moving to Man Utd
'Anyway, he came in and said "look I've got a player for you, he's a real problem boy in France but he's really talented, he'd be perfect for your club."
'I said 'listen Michel, I'm fighting fighting fires at the moment, trying to get some people out the door, they're resisting, fighting a dressing room here. The last thing I need is another controversial figure in there," and that was Eric [Cantona].
'Then Eric went on trial at Sheffield Wednesday and ended up signing for Leeds and the rest is history.'
Michel Platini, who was France manager at the time, approached Souness about Cantona.
However, the Frenchman's time at Leeds lasted just 10 months as he moved on to Manchester United later that year for £1.2million.
It was at Old Trafford where he obtained legendary status, guiding the Red Devils to their first league title in 26 years as Sir Alex Ferguson's side started their 1990s dominance of English football.
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