ERIC CANTONA
Leeds to Manchester United for £1.2m in 1992.
- Appearances: 156
- Goals: 70
This is a guy who would probably
have been my number one if I had to put them in an order. I believe the
signing of Eric Cantona changed the history of Manchester United and,
along with the man who signed him - Sir Alex Ferguson, he has been the
most influential figure in the club's modern history.
Cantona had already won a League Championship medal
with Leeds in 1992, the final season of the old Division One. When he
first came over to England and was briefly on trial at Sheffield
Wednesday earlier in that season he was seen as a bit of a risk back in
France. At Leeds under Howard Wilkinson, his goals in the last dozen
games more or less steered Leeds to that title.
I remember when Sir Alex Ferguson signed him, I was in
the team hotel that morning when he had just arrived and I said to
Ferguson: "Where are you going to play him?". He already had Mark Hughes
and Brian McClair up front at the time. Ferguson grinned and replied:
"I don't know yet". Once Cantona got in the team he changed everything
and for me he was the complete player - scoring goals, making goals and
beating people.
Play media
Eric Cantona: When Football Focus met 'King Eric'
He had his controversial moments as well - such as when he
kicked a spectator at Selhurst Park in 1995
- but I could go on forever about Cantona about his moments of magic.
His characteristic strut he had with his sleeves rolled
down and his collar up is the image that immediately comes to mind when
you think of him too. He is a truly unforgettable player.
Did you know? Cantona scored against 26 of
the 29 teams he faced in the Premier League, failing to score against
Bolton, Leicester and Manchester United.
DENNIS BERGKAMP
Inter Milan to Arsenal for £7.5m in 1995.
- Appearances: 315
- Goals: 87
A lot of people forget that he
joined Arsenal before Arsene Wenger took over - it was Bruce Rioch who
signed him from Inter Milan. Bergkamp's appreciation of the game and his
skill in the goals he set up as well as the ones that he scored meant
he brought a new ingenuity and imagination to an Arsenal team which, in
the years prior to that under George Graham, had been a bit predictable.
Bergkamp could score improbable goals just by
individual skill. He was a man for the big occasion - as we also saw for
the Netherlands at major tournaments - he could open up a defence and
at the same time he scored some legendary goals for club as well as
country.
Did you know? Bergkamp has 95 assists in Premier League history, more than any other Arsenal player.
THIERRY HENRY
Juventus to Arsenal for £11m in 1999.
- Appearances: 258
- Goals: 175
If I had to pick the player who
ran Cantona closest in terms of being the most influential signing, it
would be Thierry Henry.
When Arsene Wenger signed him from Juventus he was
more-or-less a left winger and, a bit like Dennis Bergkamp, he did not
hit the ground running straight away - it took Henry a year or so to get
integrated into the team.
But when Henry did, I watched him so many times at
Highbury and for me he had everything - pace, control, vision and he
scored some incredible goals.
Henry was at Arsenal for eight years and overtook Ian
Wright's record as Arsenal's top goalscorer - not so very long after
Wright overtook Cliff Bastin. Henry made Arsenal history and his love of
the club has always been very obvious.
In the same way that Eric Cantona wrote his name across
the history of the modern Manchester United, you could say the same
about Henry's contribution at Arsenal.
Did you know? Henry has the best mins/goal
ratio of any player to score over 30 Premier League goals (one every
121.8 minutes).
FRANK LAMPARD
West Ham to Chelsea for £11m in 2001.
- Appearances: 529
- Goals: 153
I first saw Frank Lampard as a
slightly stocky little fellow in his early days at West Ham. His dad
Frank Senior used to say to me before my Match Of The Day commentaries:
"Give young Frank a mention" because he wanted him to do so well. Nobody
knew then that he was going to go to Chelsea and become their third
highest goalscorer of all-time, behind Bobby Tambling and Kerry Dixon.
Lampard is catching Dixon up quickly too, and for a
midfield player to have scored that many goals is an incredible
achievement.
The energy that Lampard has brought to the Chelsea team
over the past few years as a midfielder who can get up and back has
been crucial to their success in that period. More importantly, perhaps,
he is a midfielder who knows exactly when to make the forward run and
support the strikers to get on the end of things. His finishing is so
impeccable.
For the money that Chelsea paid West Ham - £11m - I think he has given them fantastic service.
Did you know? Lampard holds the record for
scoring more than 10 PL goals in consecutive seasons (nine, between
2003-04 and 2011-12).
CRISTIANO RONALDO
Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United for £12.24m in 2003.
- Appearances: 196
- Goals: 84
Now we go back Manchester United
and Cristiano Ronaldo who, at this moment in time, is generally
regarded to be the first or second-best player in the world along with
Lionel Messi.
The fact he has averaged more than a goal a game for
Real Madrid tells you what an outstanding all-round performer he
continues to be.
He came to United after playing against them in a
friendly for Sporting Lisbon in 2003 and put in a performance so good
that even the United players like Gary Neville said to Sir Alex
Ferguson: "You must sign him".
When he first came to Old Trafford, again a little bit
like Thierry Henry he was a winger who came in and out of games and was a
bit of a show pony.
Then, suddenly, he exploded. He scored 42 goals in
2007-08 and by then people had already realised how good he was, with
his dipping free-kicks, the way he went past people and also his heading
ability.
If United fans were in need of a true hero after Eric Cantona, that man was Ronaldo.
Did you know? Ronaldo shares the record for most goals in a single 20-team PL season (31 in 2007-08).
ALAN SHEARER
Southampton to Blackburn Rovers (£3.3m, 1992) to Newcastle United for £15m in 1996.
- Appearances: 441
- Goals: 260
Everybody thought Alan Shearer
would join Manchester United when he left Southampton but Blackburn
somewhat unexpectedly signed him thanks to the spending power of their
owner Jack Walker, which enabled them to build a title-winning team.
Rovers were an unfashionable type of club until Walker
took over but they broke the British transfer record when Kenny Dalglish
signed Shearer for £3.3m in the summer of 1992, just after winning
promotion to the Premier League.
That seems like peanuts now but at the time there were a few eyebrows raised - but Alan went off on a scoring spree.
He had a bad injury that same campaign but still scored
a lot of goals and kept on scoring in the following seasons once he
returned to fitness, leading Rovers to the Premier League title in 1995.
You could argue Shearer should be on this list again in
1996 when Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan signed him for £15m, with
Manchester United again missing out.
Shearer did not win the title again but he is the
highest scorer in Premier League history, scoring headed goals as well
as being lethal with both feet.
People always ask him if he regrets not signing for
United and winning more medals but he was happy to have played and done
so well for his hometown club.
Did you know? Shearer is the top scorer in the history of the Premier League with 260 goals.
RUUD VAN NISTELROOY
PSV Eindhoven to Manchester United for £19m in 2001.
- Appearances: 150
- Goals: 95
I have gone for another
centre-forward here, in Ruud van Nistelrooy. Again, the Dutchman had an
amazing scoring record per game once he got to Manchester United. Van
Nistelrooy was the supreme finisher and scored a lot more than he
missed.
Sir Alex Ferguson got rid of him quite suddenly in 2006
but he was a great competitor and was always difficult to stop;
mentally and physically.
Did you know? Van Nistelrooy holds the record for scoring in consecutive PL games (10 between March and August 2003).
XABI ALONSO
Real Sociedad to Liverpool for £10.7m in 2004.
- Appearances: 143
- Goals: 14
It would be easy to pack this
selection with United players alone but Xabi Alonso gets in because he
played a very important part in Liverpool's Champions League triumph
under Rafa Benitez in 2005.
From that team, he is the player most Liverpool fans
regret seeing leave more than any other, when he joined Real Madrid in
2009. Reds supporters saw him as a key player alongside Steven Gerrard
in midfield and he was - he continues to be an outstanding talent.
There are a lot of different sides to his game - he is a
very creative and very influential midfielder but he could also do the
unexpected, like the long-range goal he scored against Luton in the FA
Cup in 2006.
When he left, that signalled the decline in quality in the Liverpool team. They have never replaced him like-for-like.
Did you know? Alonso averaged 61.2 passes
per game for Liverpool, only Cesc Fabregas (62.3) had a better record
during Alonso's five seasons in English football (50+ games).
DIDIER DROGBA
Marseille to Chelsea for £24m in 2004.
Another player proving very
- Appearances: 226
- Goals: 100
difficult to replace is Didier Drogba at Chelsea. His physical qualities
are one of his prime assets and he is a dreadfully difficult player to
play against - he used to bully teams like Arsenal.
More than anything else he embodied the Chelsea side
that rose during and after the Jose Mourinho era, culminating in their
Champions League win last season in his final act before he left.
The way Chelsea played, irrespective of who was behind him or around him, Drogba was the focal point of their attack.
In the modern game, he stands out as a truly great
centre-forward - a superb athlete and strong as they come. He is very
aggressive and never lets defenders rest. One of the reasons Fernando
Torres is having such a hard time at Chelsea is that he was always going
to be compared to Drogba, who left very big shoes to fill.
Did you know? Drogba became the first African player to score 100 PL goals in March 2012.
PETR CECH
Rennes to Chelsea for £7m in 2004.
Petr Cech pre-dated Jose
- Appearances: 268
- Clean sheets: 132
Mourinho at Chelsea - it was Claudio Ranieri who brought him to Stamford
Bridge - and he has been a player who has represented the club with
tremendous character and great dignity over the past eight years, as
well as being another of the cornerstones of their success.
Cech has been tremendously consistent in that time -
and continues to be everything a goalkeeper should be. He suffered a
dreadful head injury in a game against Reading in 2006 but it doesn't
seem to have made him less effective or less brave. He is still making
outstanding saves, and still coming out to dive at people's feet.
If you are looking at the goalkeepers of the last 20
years then Peter Schmeichel also did great things at Manchester United
but his signing in 1991 pre-dated the Premier League era. He along with
Cech are the great keepers that have stood out.
Did you know? Of keepers to have played
over 20 PL games, Petr Cech has the best clean sheet ratio in the
history of the competition (132 in 268 games).
Last edited by Zzonked on Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:05 am; edited 1 time in total
