Cantona didn't watch football after retirement because he wanted to come back

Eric Cantona admits he did not watch football for several years following his shock retirement from playing, because he knew the adrenaline of the game would pull him back.

The Manchester United legend surprised everybody when he bowed out in 1997, aged just 30 and still at the peak of his powers.

In fact, as Cantona tells Inside United magazine during an exclusive interview, his self-imposed exile from football was a deliberate act, to quell his desire to come out of retirement.

The Old Trafford icon says: “Because I retired so young, I always felt – until the last 10 years, or until I was about 45 – I could imagine that I could train for three or four months, or six months, and come back and play at the highest level. 

“Sometimes you forget what you have to do to be at 100 per cent and you say: ‘Oh, maybe if I could train I could come back.’ But then you start to think about all the other things and say, ‘oh…’ 

“I didn’t watch football for two or three years after I retired from football. 

“Because when you see things, you want them. Football is like a drug, with the adrenaline. I had to get away from it, that’s why I didn’t watch football. But now I can watch football and enjoy it.”

Asked if he now watches a lot of football, Cantona continues: “Yes, but not too much, because you can watch football 20 hours a day now. I don’t know if it’s good to have so many games on TV. 

“I choose my games. I choose the teams I love to watch. Like Manchester United.”