Ex-Man Utd star names the one player who was treated different to everyone else and was like a son to Sir Alex Ferguson
The nineties must feel like a long time ago to Manchester United fans but they enjoyed enough success during Alex Ferguson's managerial peak to last a lifetime.
Man Utd were the dominant force in the early days of the Premier League, winning the title six times between 1992-93 and 1999-00.
They won the double by adding the FA Cup in 1994 and 1996, then went one better by winning the Champions League to cap off a famous treble in 1999.
Winger and former PFA Young Player of the Year Lee Sharpe was a three-time Premier League winner with the Red Devils and went on to play for Leeds United, Sampdoria and Bradford City before winding his career down with a series of short spells at an eclectic handful of clubs.
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Sharpe played almost 200 league matches for United in the First Division and then the Premier League but found himself competing with Ryan Giggs to be Ferguson's first choice left winger.
In 1992, a famous Ferguson phone call led to the addition of another star player to United's ranks.
Feisty French midfielder Eric Cantona was signed from Leeds and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players to appear in the Premier League.
In a recent interview, Sharpe revealed that Cantona enjoyed special treatment from Ferguson.
"He was more than a teacher’s pet, and he was like a long lost son to Sir Alex at one point," Sharpe told FourFourTwo.
"Eric got treated totally different in the dressing room... It was incredible to watch, but quite funny. We were quite happy with it because at the end of the day, Eric was phenomenal."
Cantona was a remarkable player and a born entertainer who hogged the spotlight in a United team that won three of the first Premier League titles.
He constantly attracted headlines, never more than in the wake of the infamous incident after his red card against Crystal Palace in 1995 that led to an eight-month ban and a hefty slice of community service.
'We will look after you'
"Anybody else, they would have got the sack immediately in the dressing room after the game," said Sharpe, who was in the starting line-up for the fixture at Selhurst Park.
"With Eric, the manager had an arm around him and told him, ‘Don't worry, we will look after you,’ and they certainly did and brought him back, and he was brilliant."
Cantona returned against Liverpool in October 1995 and ended the 1995-96 season by scoring against the same opposition in the FA Cup final, completing his second league and cup double.
He was voted the Overseas Player of the Decade for the Premier League's first ten years.
Topics: Football, Sir Alex Ferguson, Premier League, Man Utd
Chris Nee