COMING OVER HERE, STEALING OUR HEARTS…

For years, funny foreigners were curious oddities in the English game. Alan Sugar may have warned us all about Carlos Kickaball’s menacing, mercenary threat – but it turns out we could love them just as much… if not more

ERIC CANTONA MAN UNITED

CREDENTIALS The king proved you can be a team’s greatest star and its most beloved cult hero. United fans adored Cantona the man as much as the player, mesmerised as they were by his collar- popping swagger and transformative effects on the pitch. Retiring shortly before his 31st birthday to do “other things” – beach football and a bit of acting, of course – was perfectly on- brand.

LEGACY Mentoring Fergie’s fledglings across four title victories was one thing; impromptu martial arts and confusing seagull chat quite another. All of it made him Eric.

TONY YEBOAH LEEDS

CREDENTIALS If there was a support group for crossbars, Yeboah would be to blame. The Ghanaian striker swapped Eintracht Frankfurt for Leeds in 1994 as the Bundesliga’s leading marksman – and though he was never a truly great goalscorer at Elland Road ( a penchant for yorkie puds hardly helped), good grief was he a scorer of great goals...

LEGACY His missiles against Wimbledon and Liverpool make for two of the most replayed moments in Premier League history – and remain the enduring dictionary definition of ‘ thunderbastard’.

MARIO BALOTELLI MAN CITY, LIVERPOOL

CREDENTIALS Generally, it’s advisable not to take everything you read about media- baiting mavericks as gospel. But in Mario’s case, the daft hijinks were usually true: that he set his house ablaze with fireworks in his bathroom, for example, or got questioned by police after driving into a women’s prison simply to have a look around. As you do.

LEGACY Man City fans invented a chant that honoured his antics and seemingly extended it each week. “Sets fire to his gaff with rockets from his bath; doesn’t give a f** k ’ cos he did it for a laugh...”

ATTILIO LOMBARDO CRYSTAL PALACE

CREDENTIALS Lombardo arguably received an upgrade when he joined newly promoted Palace from Juventus in 1997, immediately swapping his struzzo (‘ Ostrich’) moniker for ‘ the Bald Eagle’. Cruelly, injury stole almost four months of his debut campaign, during which time Palace plunged to rock bottom. The double Scudetto winner was appointed caretaker boss once he returned to fitness – but couldn’t prevent doom.

LEGACY Staying on for half a season in the second tier earned brownie points forever: he made only 49 outings for the club but still got voted into Palace’s Centenary XI in 2005.

DAN PETRESCU SHEFF WED, CHELSEA, BRADFORD, SO’TON

CREDENTIALS The Romanian marauder left Sheffield Wednesday for Stamford Bridge in 1995, and helped to revolutionise Chelsea in Glenn Hoddle’s swashbuckling wing- back system. Petrescu was in the Blues side that won the FA Cup for only the second time in 1997 – and turning down Tottenham years later out of respect to his old employers did him no harm either.

LEGACY You don’t call one of your daughters ‘ Beatrice Chelsea’ unless you really love that club. ‘ Super’ Dan owned the song long before Frank Lampard came along.

ESTEBAN CAMBIASSO LEICESTER

CREDENTIALS Champions League winner seeking new challenge with promoted club? Sure. Leicester fans were baffled when Nigel Pearson enticed the former Inter midfielder in 2014 – and weren’t disappointed with the results. Cambiasso was outstanding as the Foxes eventually stayed up against all odds, marshalling the team as they won seven of their final nine matches. “Honestly, I loved him,” revealed a smitten Kasper Schmeichel.

LEGACY The Argentine only hung around for a year, but Leicester’s Great Escape assured him everlasting adulation. They stunned the world after his departure, mind – maybe he was holding them back?

PAULO WANCHOPE DERBY, WEST HAM, MAN CITY

CREDENTIALS Take your pick out of Derby’s exotic ’ 90s arrivals: Mart Poom, Igor Stimac, Stefano Eranio, Francesco Baiano... but did any of them score a gangly halfway dash like a 20- year- old Wanchope at Old Trafford, just nine days after arriving from his native Costa Rica? We think not. Even more impressively, the £ 600,000 snip had been on a basketball scholarship in the USA only two years earlier.

LEGACY That 1997 strike was named Derby’s greatest of all time by supporters. Wanchope is the face of a far happier era for the Rams; with him, they bagged their only two top- 10 finishes in the Premier League.

JUAN PABLO ANGEL ASTON VILLA

CREDENTIALS The Colombian was a record signing for Villa from River Plate in 2001 – so it wasn’t ideal that it took him nine games to score his first goal. He barely spoke English and was immediately forced to contend with his ill wife and their newborn son – but vitally the striker never gave up. He exploded during a 23- goal campaign under David O’leary in 2003- 04, and his popularity hardly wavered throughout leaner periods.

LEGACY The forward who made headbands cool in the West Midlands is still revered now – all repaid on the 46- year- old’s social media channels which host frequent Villans love- ins. There’s only Juan Pablo Angel...

TUGAY BLACKBURN

CREDENTIALS Non- Blackburn fans know the midfielder for his goals – rare but memorable missiles of long- distance precision. Yet there was much more to the Turkish maestro who joined in 2001, when he was 30. Former boss Graeme Souness says smoke would emerge from Tugay- occupied toilets prior to kick- off – unsurprisingly he was no hard runner, but his ability to control games was unmatched.

LEGACY Before his swansong, 30,000 Tugay face masks were handed out at Ewood Park. At full- time, they were used to hide the tears.

ANDREI KANCHELSKIS MAN UNITED, EVERTON, MAN CITY, SOUTHAMPTON

CREDENTIALS Anyone with a weakness for frivolous skills is near- guaranteed cult status. Luckily, Kanchelskis could play a bit too: one of the Premier League’s first 11 foreigners in 1992- 93, the Russian fired United to a clutch of trophies until falling out with Alex Ferguson in 1995. It was Everton’s gain...

LEGACY It took him until mid- November to score – but naturally, he was saving himself for an ace brace which secured Everton’s first league success at Liverpool since 1986. The wideman finished a superb season with 16 goals, and his place in folklore sealed forever.

NWANKWO KANU ARSENAL, WEST BROM, PORTSMOUTH

CREDENTIALS On his Gunners debut, Kanu controversially assisted Marc Overmars when the ball was being given back to Sheffield United, resulting in a tetchy rematch. Over time, he became Arsene Wenger’s ultimate squad man, with grace and an ability to net from all angles – see that treble at Chelsea. He soon made up for his opening- day error.

LEGACY Emmanuel Adebayor donned the No. 25 jersey because of Kanu – it’s safe to assume that Arsenal’s massive following in Nigeria owes plenty to their first- ever Eagle.

CHRISTOPHE DUGARRY BIRMINGHAM

CREDENTIALS When Steve Bruce landed the World Cup winner on loan from Bordeaux in January 2003, he called it the biggest signing in Blues history. It’s often forgotten that the forward’s impact wasn’t exactly immediate; he didn’t score in his first 10 games, leaving City in a relegation dogfight. But then came

the run: one month, five goals and four wins which saved them and made Dugarry a hero.

LEGACY Every list of the Premier League’s greatest loanees features the French forward prominently. The ex- Barcelona man’s spell was brief but brilliant – and it’s still banged on about today.