Eric Cantona shared his wisdom on how a Manchester United player should behave with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when he joined the club in 1996.
Cantona had been at Old Trafford since 1992 and took it upon himself to educate 23-year-old Solskjaer, who had just moved from Molde – competing in Norway’s Eliteserien – to global giants United.
“I remember Eric Cantona saying when you meet people it might just be once in their life they meet you,” Solskjaer told the Telegraph in 2007.
“So for him to take just 30 seconds to chat to that person, sign an autograph, and smile, means so much more to the other person.
“That’s what they are going to remember. If he had been an asshole… that’s what they would have remembered.”
(Image: Press Association)
He added: “That’s part of the learning process of being a Man U player. Behaving.”
Cantona is notorious for the ‘kung-fu kick’ incident on a Crystal Palace supporter in 1995, though he remains fan favourite amongst Manchester United fans.
Solskjaer would go on to join Cantona in the United history books, playing 366 games and scoring 126 goals for the Red Devils.
Reflecting on what it took to be a United star, Solskjaer said: “Coming to Man U you have to have a certain make-up: being humble and being a role model.
“That’s obviously a big thing at Man U, because everybody is always going to look up to Man U all the time.
(Image: PA)
“So if you wear a certain cap or watch, kids are going to be influenced.”
Manchester United fans fondly nicknamed their Norweigian forward the ‘Baby-faced Assassin’, thanks to his cheerful complexion but lethal ability to score goals after being brought off the bench.
Most famously, Solskjaer came off the bench in the 1999 Champions League final to score the winner against Bayern Munich – earning United their second European Cup and securing a historic treble.
