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Eric Cantona - Official Manchester United Website

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"Le Roi"."Le Dieu". Or good old - but never, ever, plain old - Eric. Whatever you want to call Monsieur Cantona, the Frenchman's four-and-a-half seasons at Old Trafford are the stuff of legend.

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French football legend said family history inspired him to house migrants

Maternal grandparents fled Spain, crossing Pyrenees mountains on foot

Cantona said he will put up a number of migrants for 'at least two years'

He also plans to feed refugees as well as house them as they cannot work

Eric Cantona evoked the memory of his own grandparents fleeing the Spanish Civil War this morning as he vowed to house and feed refugees for 'at least two years'.

The former Manchester United told French radio that his own dramatic family history had inspired him to take in a family of migrants, something he had hinted at doing earlier this month.

Speaking of his family background, Cantona revealed that his maternal grandparents were Spanish republicans who escaped the oppressive Franco regime and fled to France, making the arduous journey across the Pyrenees mountains on foot.

Speaking on France Inter radio this morning, Cantona said that he was organising the housing of migrants with the authorities in Marseille.

He said he intends to provide a small house, garden and food for a period of at least two years.

'If you house someone who does not have the right to work, then they need to eat too,' said the enigmatic former France football captain.

Cantona also explained how his own family history had inspired his decision.

'My maternal grandparents were Spanish Republicans who fled Franco [in the Spanish Civil War] by crossing the Pyrenees on foot,' he said. 'That being our story, it certainly played a role.'

Rumours that Cantona planned to take in a refugee family spread earlier this month, when he was asked by Le Parisien newspaper if he would take people.

'Of course, certainly, and it would be good if the 65 million French people would all be willing to accept them,' Cantona replied.

Saying he was ready to open up his own property to foreign arrivals, the 49-year-old added: 'We create wars for economic reasons and then people flee countries because we've created chaos and we're not even able to receive them.'

Cantona, who carved out a successful second career as an actor since hanging up his boots, also said he has been disgusted by a rise in xenophobia stirred up by Europe's right wing politicians.

The former Socialist voter, made it clear that he had lost confidence in the entire political class, especially President Francois Hollande.

'I voted for him in 2012 but I will spoil my ballot in 2017,' said Cantona, referring to the next ballot to elect a head of state in two years' time.

Saying that the Socialists had also swung to the right, Cantona said: 'We don't want to welcome too many migrants because 55 per cent of French people are against it and because the National Front are rising in popularity, we venture on to their ground.'

Cantona is not the first high profile person to offer up their home to refugees.

Earlier this month, Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila told national broadcaster YLE that starting in 2016 he would offer his home in Kempele, in northern Finland, to house asylum seekers.

'We should all take a look in the mirror and ask how we can help,' he reportedly said, adding that a plan to distribute refugees should be voluntary, though he hoped his country could set an example.

And Bob Geldof also said that he would also accommodate four refugee families in his London and Kent homes as Europe struggles comes to terms with the scale of the humanitarian crisis.

The Boomtown Rats singer told Irish radio that he felt sick at seeing images of tragic toddler Aylan Kurdi body lying drowned on a Turkish beach, adding 'I look at it with profound shame and a monstrous betrayal of who we are and what we wish to be.'

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Cantona says he will house and feed refugees for 'at least two years'

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French football legend said family history inspired him to house migrants Maternal grandparents fled Spain, crossing Pyrenees mountains on foot Cantona said he will put up a number of migrants for 'at least two years' He also plans to feed refugees as well as house them as they cannot work Eric Cantona evoked the memory of his own grandparents fleeing the Spanish Civil War this morning as he vowed to house and feed refugees for 'at least two years'.

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Eric Cantona ● Best Skills & Goals Ever I must state that in NO way, shape or form am I intending to infringe rights of the copyright holder. Content used is strictly for research/reviewing purposes and to help educate. All under the Fair Use law.

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We can't be putting Tina Turner on for just any old hero, nor merely for the most skilful. And the toughest, longest-lasting or most prolific can go whistle because only one player can be serenaded as simply the best and it must be the one who has done more than any other to shape the Premier League years. Show us another player who has radiated as much influence as Eric Cantona and we will show you a figment of your imagination.

The rebranding of English football's First Division as the Premier League coincided with the dawn of Manchester United's imperial age. Before that they had been champions seven times in 89 years; since then they have won 13 of 25 available titles. There is a fair chance that followers of Manchester's red team would be (much less numerous and) still harking back to the black-and-white era if it were not for Cantona, the enigma who exploded doubt.

When Cantona moved from Leeds United to Old Trafford in November 1992 the sole certainty was that it was shocking. Even Alex Ferguson could not believe his luck when United's chance inquiry about buying the Frenchman did not result in the Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson slamming down the phone. Cantona had joined Leeds only the previous February but was already an idol to the Elland Road faithful. His panache and strength of will had helped the Yorkshire club to hold off Manchester United to win the last title before the introduction of the Premier League and he then scored the first hat‑trick of the newfangled top flight when Leeds thrashed Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 just a couple of weeks after his three goals in the Charity Shield victory against Liverpool.

But Wilkinson, who had acted decisively to sign Cantona when Sheffield Wednesday dithered, was not convinced that a game could be built around a player whom he saw as a wild card. Wilkinson is the last English manager to win the title but must also be remembered for his unwitting contribution to Ferguson's survival and the transformation of Leeds' arch-rivals into the Premier League's dominant force. Leeds got £1.2m from the Cantona deal, and a queasy feeling that may never fully heal.

But the transfer was mostly about Ferguson's gut. There were, in fairness to Wilkinson, good grounds for believing Cantona's arrival at Old Trafford might have worked out another way and destabilised Ferguson's team. The player had more baggage than a travelling circus and his stays at clubs tended to be short and spectacular before ending with someone getting a face full of custard pie. Even United players had concerns, Lee Sharpe summing them up by blurting: "Yeah, right, the bloke's a total nutter."

But Ferguson, under pressure to deliver the title in his seventh year in charge, erred on the side of adventure. "I'm not interested in all the tittle‑tattle ... we all have to remember that he is a truly gifted player."

United were eighth when Cantona strode in and were finding goals hard to come by. Dion Dublin, the striker signed the previous summer, was out with a broken leg and United could not persuade Sheffield Wednesday to sell David Hirst. It was unclear how Cantona would fit into the team; in the end Ferguson sort of sacrificed his son to make way for the Frenchman, Darren's run of starts for United coming to an end after Cantona's arrival, as, with Bryan Robson injured, Brian McClair dropped into midfield so the newcomer could be deployed up front with Mark Hughes.

In Cantona's first start United beat the league leaders Norwich City 1-0. He scored in each of his next four matches, including a 4-1 victory against Tottenham. But it was a pass against Spurs that demonstrated his most precious contribution to United: his flipped chip with the outside of his right foot to Denis Irwin for United's second goal in that game encapsulated how he freed his team-mates from the anxiety that had hobbled them, inspiring them with his conviction that together they could be great.

"He just had that aura and presence," said Paul Ince. "He took responsibility away from us. It was like he said: 'I'm Eric, and I'm here to win the title for you.'"

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Eric Cantona and his Manchester United team-mates celebrate with the Premier League trophy in 1996. Photograph: Colorsport/Rex/Shutterstock

United went on to win their first title since 1967 by 10 points. Then they signed Roy Keane to give Cantona an even more solid platform on which to perform. They won the league again, with Cantona their top scorer despite missing five matches through suspension. He also scored twice in the FA Cup final win against Chelsea and was named PFA player of the year. And he underperformed in Europe, establishing another recurring trend for Premier League teams.

Cantona's impact on the next season's title race was sensational in a different way. United were chasing down the upstarts at the top of the table, Blackburn Rovers, when a red mist descended on Cantona and he jumped into the crowd at Selhurst Park to dispense street justice. Later, in a more formal procedure, the FA hit him with an eight-month ban. Nerves infected a United team shorn of their strutting leader and they allowed Blackburn to creep over the line for the title.

When Cantona returned from his ban, against Liverpool the following October, he brought back the certainty. He created one goal and scored another in a 2-2 draw. And when he returned to Selhurst Park for the first time since his kung-fu lesson, he scored twice in a United victory. His temper may have been brittle but his mentality was to conquer. In the second half of the 1995‑96 season, United won five matches 1-0, Cantona scoring the decisive goal each time. He demanded a big stage to hog. After the title was clinched he completed the Double by scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final against Liverpool.

It was no surprise when Cantona, after being given the armband to go with his guru role, led United to the 1996‑97 title, the fourth in his five years at the club. But his next step was a shock. A week after lifting his latest crown, Cantona, aged 30, announced that he was retiring from football forthwith. No one had seen it coming. But his work was done. He had proved that he and United could be masters of their own destiny.

The contenders

Strong claims could be made for three other former Manchester United players. Peter Schmeichel remains the best goalkeeper the Premier League has seen and one of very few world‑class players during that period to have spent all of their prime years with an English club. Roy Keane is another. Cristiano Ronaldo's finest years came at Real Madrid but for a few seasons he was untouchable in the Premier League. Arsenal's Thierry Henry was peerless for even longer before heading to Barcelona to win the Champions League. Yaya Touré's best years, by contrast, came after he left the Camp Nou; at Manchester City he became a uniquely dominant attacking midfielder. In different ways Keane, Ronaldo, Henry and Touré uplifted their teams and gladdened the hearts of football lovers.

* This article was amended on 24 July. Eric Cantona's first match on his return from suspension ended in a draw, not a win, against Liverpool.
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Premier League at 25: the best player - Eric Cantona | Paul Doyle

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We can't be putting Tina Turner on for just any old hero, nor merely for the most skilful. And the toughest, longest-lasting or most prolific can go whistle because only one player can be serenaded as simply the best and it must be the one who has done more than any other to shape the Premier League years.