Cantona says he fears the day when Man Utd fans stop singing his name

Eric Cantona says he fears the day when Manchester United fans stop singing his name.

The Frenchman remains an icon at Old Trafford where he was the catalyst for an era of dominance under Sir Alex Ferguson. In four-and-a-half years at United, Cantona won four Premier League titles and two FA Cups.

Twenty-three years after he left the club, Cantona is still revered by supporters who continue to honour him with tribute songs. But the 53-year-old admits his memory will fade in time.

‘I feel proud, I feel great and I feel a bit afraid that they will stop – because they will stop one day,’ he said.

Discussing his Old Trafford career with the Official Manchester United Podcast, Cantona admitted that winning the Double with the Class of ’92 in 1996 eclipsed a similar achievement two years earlier.

Ferguson offloaded Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andrei Kanchelskis in the summer of 1995, and put his faith in David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers. Cantona emerged as the hero after he returned from a nine-month ban to revive the club’s title charge and score the winning goal in the FA Cup Final against Liverpool.

‘Maybe when we won the Double with a new generation of players,’ he replied when asked about the pinnacle of his United career. ‘We won the Double with (Paul) Ince and (Mark) Hughes, and then Ferguson knew that the young players were great.

‘In the first season we won the Double with them. Of course, it was an unbelievable generation of players. So it’s why it’s something special. It means something special for me and I think for the club also.

‘Because I think it’s important to win things with players coming through the academy. It’s like Barcelona, you are prouder than if you win with the players you buy anywhere.’

Cantona was made captain for the ’96 Cup Final and then handed the armband permanently for his final season at the club but didn’t feel comfortable with the extra burden.

He said: ‘If I felt a responsibility? No. Just train hard. I respect myself and I tried to respect the people around me, but I didn’t want to be an example. I never wanted to be an example.

‘No, I didn’t want to be an example because it’s a way also to feel like being in jail. I love to feel the freedom and I don’t want to put too much pressure on me.

‘Everything I can (do) to be more free I (do). If you say to yourself that you are an example and you have a responsibility for the other ones, for some people it’s good, but for me it’s not good.’

Cantona enjoyed the happiest days of his career at United winning trophies under Ferguson after a tempestuous decade at home with a number of clubs in France including Auxerre, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier and Nimes. He also had a season at Leeds where he helped then to pip United to the title in 1992.

‘It’s where I felt most free. I think it’s very important,’ he added. ‘Even today, I say to myself that I am here and tomorrow I will be somewhere else. I loved the people I worked with. They are all my friends. But I don’t want anything from anyone. I think it is a way to feel the freedom with my character with my personality.

‘What I love about Alex Ferguson is every time there was a new goal, a new challenge. Even if we were 10 points in front and we have already won the league, we would always try to find a new challenge, new records.

‘He is one of the few people I have met who has had a lot of influence on me. It’s like in everything, the people we meet make us.

‘The meaning of Manchester United is winning. Winning with enjoyment. It’s what all fans of Manchester United expect. Not only winning, winning with enjoyment. Like for 25 years with Alex Ferguson, or before with Matt Busby. That’s Manchester United, it’s why we all love Manchester United.’