Sir Alex Ferguson labelled one of his worst ever signings a 'disaster' after he bought himself out of contract
Sir Alex Ferguson labelled one of his Manchester United signings as a 'disaster' after the player bought himself out of his previous contract.
Ferguson signed 105 players during his legendary spell as United boss between 1986 and 2013.
In an indication of how much football had changed financially in those 27 years, his most expensive signing during the 1986/87 season was Mark Hughes at £1.8 million, while Robin van Persie arrived for £24 million from Arsenal in 2012.
Both players were critical under Ferguson and each fired United to success in the Premier League.
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Either side of those deals, the Scot was largely successful in the transfer market but, like all managers, there were a few moves that simply didn't work out.
In December 1995, United were in the midst of an injury crisis with centre-backs David May, Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister all unavailable.
Ferguson decided he needed to sign cover, and turned to a player recommended to him by none other than Eric Cantona.
He decided to approach Bordeaux defender William Prunier, who had spent his entire career playing in France and had significant success at Cantona's former club Auxerre.
The pair had played together for four years at Auxerre, and the 28-year-old Prunier bought himself out of his contract at Bordeaux to make the move to Old Trafford.
Terms were agreed on an initial trial, with United planning to assess Prunier during training sessions before determining if he was ready to play Premier League football.
Subsequently, the Frenchman was thrown in at the deep end when left-back Denis Irwin suffered an injury.
His debut went well, as he provided an assist for Andy Cole in a 2-1 Premier League win over Queens Park Rangers.
Prunier kept his place in the team as United travelled to Tottenham on New Years' Day 1996, but had an evening to forget as Ferguson's side were beaten 4-1.
He was offered an 'extended trial' to stay at the club but turned it down, with the Spurs experience proving to be his second and final outing for the Red Devils.
In his 2015 autobiography, 'Leading', Ferguson described Prunier as a 'disaster'.
Prunier returned to France after his short United stint via a loan spell at Copenhagen, and racked up over 100 appearances with Toulouse. He was named in Ligue 1's Team of the Year for the 2002/03 season.
After retirement in 2004, he stepped into coaching and is currently the manager of French fifth tier side Evian.
In a 2019 interview with The Telegraph, Prunier described his time at United as an 'honour', while claiming that he was actually offered a three-year contract by United rather than a trial but that a deal could not be agreed.
He also described how he didn't speak English upon arriving at Old Trafford, with Cantona often acting as a translator to the dressing room: "I had plenty [of stories about Cantona to tell the other players] but I didn't speak English, so I just told the stories to Eric so he would translate them to the group. Of course, he changed everything during the translation so the team couldn't make fun of him!"
Topics: Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United
Ryan Smart