RESULT! Dar’s open for Matteo
MATTEO DARMIAN is concerned staying at Manchester United may end up harming his World Cup chances for Italy.
The Old Trafford full-back, 27, recently got married and has consistently been linked with a move back to Italy with Serie A champions and Champions League finalists Juventus.
Darmian found himself back in favour under Jose Mourinho towards the end of last season and the United boss would like the former Torino defender to remain a member of his squad.
And there is a firm intention from within United to sit down with the player to discuss all the options.
Darmian is desperate to feature for his country in Russia next year and although Mourinho will not stand in his way, he will tell the Italian he wants him to stay at the club.
His goodbye stunned Sir Alex Ferguson in 1997 and caught the whole nation by surprise. Just like his mercurial Old Trafford career.
Four Premier League titles in the famous red No.7 shirt with the trademark turned-up collar, and two FA Cups, only told a sliver of the story of Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona.
His five fabulous years under Fergie without once falling foul of his hair-dryer treatment crafted Cantona into a living legend. Icon. Idol.
Adored by the United faithful. Loathed by opposing fans, with that infamous Crystal Palace supporter the victim of Cantona’s shocking kung-fu kick which was punished by an eight-month ban.
But that red-mist moment was never allowed to darken the brightest of eras when the Frenchman helped transform United into the dominant force of English football.
Not even the staunchest of his United followers would have thought that would have been Cantona’s legacy if, like me, they had witnessed his arrival in our wonderful game.
That was back on a freezing February day in 1992 when King Eric made his debut for Leeds United against Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park.
I remember photographers taking endless pictures of Cantona in the dug-out and wondered why they were making such a fuss of this great unknown. His second-half introduction supported that question with the Leeds signing doing nothing out of the ordinary. How that impression bit me back so many times after he moved from Elland Road to Old Trafford for a paltry £1.2million that November.
Cantona gave the impression of being aloof, stand- offish and sometimes arrogant. He was none of those. He was a man of the people who chose to live in a modest semi-detached home in Leeds before moving to Manchester to reside in a Novotel on the outskirts of Worsley.
I interviewed him many times. Once after an FA Cup tie at Sheffield United when he emerged from the dressing room 90 minutes after his team-mates, immaculately suited and booted, doused in the very best French cologne.
He was a quiet, charming man away from football. On the pitch the showman emerged with that charismatic goal celebration of hands on hips, head slowly turning to the four corners of the stadium to acknowledge the adulation.
I was not the only one mesmerised by him. Sir Alex was devastated when Cantona called it a day just short of his 31st birthday with a year still left on his contract.
Ferguson said: “Cantona illuminated Old Trafford. The place was a frenzy every time he touched the ball. The years of Eric Cantona were great for all of us. He was a joy to manage. Whenever fans discuss United’s greatest ever sides you can be sure for many Eric’s name would be very high on the list.”
His team-mates spoke highly of him – but defensive kingpin Gary Pallister could never understand why he never got the verbal rollicking in the dressing room endured by everyone else.
“He never got the hair-dryer. Virtually everyone else had but not Eric who was no angel. He had a short fuse but everybody has a breaking point,” said Pally.
“But you wouldn’t believe the kind of vile, verbal abuse that was directed at him when he arrived at opposing grounds and got off the bus. It was no wonder he cracked.”