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Former Manchester United forward Eric Cantona has claimed that the club rejected his offer to become its president of football.
During an interview with The Athletic, the legendary French forward slammed former Red Devils chief executive Ed Woodward. The English investment banker was appointed chief of commercial and media operations of Manchester United in 2007.
Woodward was ultimately promoted to executive vice chairman of the club and oversaw football operations, including a vast number of high-profile signings. He broke the world transfer record to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus in 2016 (€105 million) but oversaw several disastrous purchases during his time.
Following his failed attempt to get Manchester United into the doomed European Super League, Woodward resigned in 2021, with many dubbing his time in charge as a failure. While the club may have floundered on the pitch over the past decade, its revenue and value have gone from strength to strength under Woodward.
Red Devils icon Cantona has now claimed that he offered his services to the club to help them return to their former glory as he stated:
“Last year, I proposed to the club to change their way. Ed Woodward is great at marketing but not great at football."
He added:
“United should have a chairman and then they should have a president of marketing and then a president of football, who is in charge of all the decisions in football. So I proposed to them that I should be president of football.”
Eric Cantona claims he feels responsible for Manchester United not winning one more Premier League title
The enigmatic Frenchman was banned for nine months in 1995 after he infamously kung-fu kicked a Crystal Palace supporter in the crowd.
United ultimately missed out on the league title by a point to Blackburn Rovers that season and Cantona claims he feels responsible for the miss. The legendary forward proclaimed (as per The Mail):
"I think when a player is missing you can play one game without that player. But if you don’t play with one of those players for a few weeks, I think it can make the difference. We didn’t win it because we are all used to playing together and one piece was missing."
"If it had been Schmeichel or Irwin, Paul Ince or Roy Keane, it would have been exactly the same. It’s why we lost it so it was my fault. I don’t regret the thing I did. I feel guilty because we didn’t win the league."
