Former Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti admits his failure to lure Premier League icon Eric Cantona away from Manchester United in the 1990s was one of his biggest regrets.
When Eric Cantona was at the peak of his powers at Old Trafford, Inter Milan came calling. Following the enigmatic Frenchman, if you’ll forgive us, like a certain seagull follows a certain trawler.
Fortunately for Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson, their mercurial number seven had little interest in swapping the Red Devils for the Nerazzuri, eventually hanging up his boots after winning four Premier League titles, two FA Cup and three Charity Shields.
Eric Cantona stayed to become a Manchester United legend
“As president, you always hope to find someone who will make you win and win big,” Marotti explains, speaking to Radio Serie A. “With players, I was looking above all for class.
“Regrets? (I have) lots of them. Many times, they are linked to not being able to do something. Cantona would have represented a change of gear.”
Inter, during much of Cantona’s time at Man United, underperformed in Serie A. They even finished a lowly 13th in Serie A during one particularly miserable season, with Cantona earmarked as a player who – like with United – could prove to be a catalyst for change.
“I went to see him and started negotiating,” Alessandro Mazzola, Inter Milan’s sporting director from 1995 to 1999, would explain to FC Inter News.
“But there were big problems in taking him from Manchester United. The English club asked for a fee that was too high. And, to complete the negotiation, we would have had to carry out very complex operations.
“We couldn’t afford such a high expense at that time.”
Inter Milan’s big ‘regret’
Cantona – with his raised collar and his puffed-out chest – remains arguably the most iconic Manchester United player of modern times. And, as far as Ferguson is concerned, the £1.6 million signing from Leeds was one of only four truly ‘world-class’ players he coached during a storied managerial career.
“In my book, there are only two world-class players playing today. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo,” Ferguson wrote in his 2015 autobiography ‘Leading’.
“I don’t mean to demean or criticise any of the great or very good footballers who played for me during my 26-year career at United, but there were only four who were world-class. Cantona, (Ryan) Giggs, Ronaldo and (Paul) Scholes.”
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