A bath spurred former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to sign Eric Cantona

Eric Cantona won the Premier League title 4 times with Manchester United

A decision that Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson describes as one that changed the “landscape of Manchester United” came to him when he was in a bath with Gary Pallister and Steve Bruce. The Scot decided to sign Eric Cantona from Leeds United based on a conversation between his players as he describes in his new book “Leading”, as JOE.co.uk reports.

The French striker scored 96 times in 220 games. A tally that spurred 4 Premier League title wins for the club in 5 seasons that Cantona spent at the club between 1992 and 1997. Cantona would also win the FA Cup twice with the Red Devils. Not a shabby return for the tidy £1.2 million the club spent on him.

What we already know about the transfer was then Leeds managing director Bill Fotherby’s account as recounted by The Independent. He recalled speaking to the United boss about possibly signing Denis Irwin and received a firm no but Sir Alex did 2 things next, one of which would dictate how the transfer would happen. First, he offered the Leeds man another player and then inquired about Cantona.

Leeds were looking to get rid of the player at the time and it worked out well for both parties. In his new book, the 73-year old relives the incident that spurred his decision to sign the forward who would kung fu kick his team into dominance of England for the next few years.

Ferguson describes it as an unusual instance when he ended up in a bath with a couple of his players and their discussion on the Leeds striker is what made up his mind.

The excerpt reads: “After a game against Leeds United in 1992, I was in the bath with the players, which was highly unusual for me.

“Listening to their analysis of the match, Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister were raving about Eric Cantona, the French striker Leeds had signed from Nimes.

“Steve Bruce was particularly complimentary about Cantona’s abilities and somehow those comments planted a seed, which soon after led to us signing Eric and we all know how that turned out.

“Listening, even just for a few moments, led to a decision which changed the landscape of Manchester United.”

Perhaps it is not important how people come to these decisions but Sir Alex's Archimedes moment was a biggie that bore a huge Cantona shaped mark on Manchester United's illustrious history. Louis van Gaal will be hoping to have one of these moments himself.