>
Eric Cantona has warned his former club Manchester United that the best players in the world will not move to Old Trafford because they cannot guarantee trophies.
And to add insult to injury, the Frenchman said his former employers should copy the methods of arch-rival Liverpool and turn talented players into world leaders, as Jurgen Klopp did with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
United boss Erik ten Hag believes many of United’s signings in recent years have been ‘average’, but with the club poised to sign Dutch striker Wout Weghorst on loan from Burnley after the 30-year-old end his spell in Besiktas early, Cantona said. his transfer policy has to change.
Eric Cantona says Manchester United no longer have the drawing power to attract the best in the world
“During the time of Alex Ferguson, if you wanted a player, the best in the world, he would come to Manchester United because they were winning in England and Europe,” said Cantona, who admitted he was unaware of Weghorst or his move to United. .
Manchester United was the biggest club in the world and had the money to buy any type of player.
It’s different now, because the best players want to play in a team to win things and United are not in a position to pick the best because the best are not coming to United.
The Red Devils legend has warned that the best players in the world will not be leaving for Old Trafford
So you have to be smart. Smart like Liverpool. They took Mane and Salah, not the best players in the world, but with a great team and a great atmosphere, together they won things.
And then Mane and Salah became the best players in the world. That’s a great example for United’.
Cantona, who joined United in 1992, however, believes that Ten Hag has the right approach in introducing a stricter regime at the club.
The in-form Marcus Rashford reneged on the new policy when he was pulled from the sideline to play Wolves a fortnight ago because he overslept and missed a team meeting, but came off the bench to score the winner.
‘You need to have a bit of discipline to win things. But it’s not just about that, it’s about a lot of things,” added the 56-year-old, speaking at the National Football Museum in Manchester, where an exhibition by local artist Michael Browne, commissioned by Cantona and entitled ‘From Moss Side to Marseille’, opens to the public on Saturday.
‘It’s about attitude, it’s about how you carry yourself. When you play for a club like Manchester United, you have to have the club in your blood.
You have to give your life for this club, for the fans. So if you win, fine, but if you don’t win, at least you’ve given it your all.
Cantona urged Erik ten Hag to copy Liverpool and turn talented players into world leaders.
‘In England it is difficult to win because there are so many clubs that can win it. So if you don’t win it, you should at least give it your all every game, or at least try to give it your all every game.
And to give everything in each game, a minimum of discipline is needed, discipline is the basis of everything.
‘But it’s also about the enjoyment of playing football.
“I always say that not only in football but in everything you have to do to find the confidence and when you have enough confidence you can enjoy it.”
Cantona said Liverpool had shown the way forward by developing Mo Salah and Sadio Mane.
But to enjoy it you need to have this confidence and to have this confidence you need to work hard, work hard, work hard. Be 100 percent physically, 100 percent technically, 100 percent tactically.
“It’s not just about the first team, it’s about the atmosphere in the club, the atmosphere among the people, the respect you have for your teammates, the respect you have for the women who work at the entrance to the game or the bar.
‘If you respect yourself you can respect others. If you don’t respect others it’s because you don’t respect yourself.
“And if you don’t respect yourself, United are not your club.”