ERIC CANTONA has leaked the biggest secret of his glorious, if controversial, reign as a Manchester United superstar.
His manager Sir Alex Ferguson has always been credited with channelling the wayward genius of his temperamental trophy-winner.
But Cantona, whose career in France had been littered with uncontrolled outbursts on and off the field, has revealed that even Fergie was ready to give up on him.
And the great Scot would have done so if it had not been for the intervention of his late wife Cathy.
Cantona, who went on to have a career as an actor, is currently rubbing shoulders with Hollywood stars like John Travolta, Demi Moore and various supermodels at the Cannes Film Festival.
He spoke of his time at Old Trafford on the terrace of the Palais des Festivals where the documentary Cantona is being presented.
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He said: “This is the story of my life, of a man who was in search of himself and another who helps him find himself.
“It was almost a challenge that Alex Ferguson took on.”
But, just like those in charge of French clubs Marseille, Bordeaux, Nimes and Montpellier, who all sent him packing, Fergie, who signed him from Leeds in 1992, came to have his own doubts about a man who would later shock football with a Kung Fu attack on a Crystal Palace fan.
Cantona added: “At one time, he wanted to let me go, but his wife convinced him to continue with me.”
Fergie finally found the key to getting the best out of Cantona by following the guidance of Guy Roux, the manager who had him as a turbulent teenager at French club Auxerre.
Cantona explained: “Guy Roux advised: ‘You have to love him and, if you give him this love, he will give you his life in return’.
“When I arrived in England, there were no Frenchmen and very few foreigners. People looked at me with a bit of contempt.
“My relationship with Alex Ferguson might have been a film script. It could have been a story of love.”
Yet, after winning four league titles with United and two FA Cups, Cantona suddenly announced his premature retirement at the age of 31.
He said: “I had lost the flame. I felt it very quickly.
“I could not stand the bit of an empty feeling, the space for the devil to find a home.”
“When I have lived such intense moments as a player, I could not put up with feeling the motor turning over more slowly.
“The flame is what guided me because football had been a passion, a drug, and the day I lost the flame it never came back.
“What saved me was having other passions.”
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