Eric Cantona
© Getty Images
Quite possibly Manchester United's most important player of the modern era, Eric Cantona provided the je ne sais quoi which helped the club become the dominant force in English football during the formative years of the Premier League.
Having had a short trial with Sheffield Wednesday, Cantona helped Leeds United to win the last ever top-flight title before the introduction of the Premier League and subsequently moved to Manchester United, where he won the first two league crowns of the new era.
United sat 10th in the Premier League at the time of Cantona's arrival in November 1992, but they lost just two more times all season to win the inaugural title by 10 points - their first top-flight success since 1967.
Disciplinary problems punctured his time at Old Trafford - most notably his infamous kung fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan at Selhurst Park - but his genius on the football field will be the abiding memory of his United career and by the time he surprisingly hung up his boots in 1997 he was known as 'King Eric' to the club's fans.
In all, Cantona scored 64 goals in 143 Premier League appearances for United, helping them to four titles in addition to FA Cup glory in 1994 and 1996.
The mercurial Frenchman was also named PFA Player of the Year in 1994 and FWA Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in 1993 he came third in the voting for the Ballon d'Or.
