Liverpool fans have seen some of the greatest players of the Premier League era pull on the red shirt at Anfield. While Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen came through the club’s ranks, the Reds have also brought in some incredible foreign stars including Luis Suárez and current talisman Mohamed Salah.
There have been plenty of near misses too and ex-Liverpool boss Graeme Souness has revealed he turned down the chance to sign another Premier League icon, Eric Cantona. The Frenchman revolutionized Manchester United after arriving from Leeds in 1992, helping the club win four Premier League titles.
He also scored against the Reds in the FA Cup final at Wembley in 1996 but things could have been very different. Before his move to English football, Cantona had failed to settle at a number of clubs in France and was suggested to Liverpool by then-France boss Michel Platini.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Souness revealed Platini approached him after Liverpool had played Auxerre in the UEFA Cup. “I wasn’t exactly his mate but he gave me a hug, kissed me on both cheeks, and ends up saying, ‘I’ve got a player for you, he is perfect for you. He’s a problem boy in France but he’d be great for your football club’.
“Eric Cantona. I’d never heard of him, and I said, ‘look, I am fighting fires here at the moment, I believe he’s a proper player but right now I don’t need any more problem boys. So he could have been a Liverpool player.”
Souness went on to suggest he doesn’t regret the decision as he tried to add his stamp to a new-look Liverpool team. He added: “It doesn’t haunt me. Part of my job at Liverpool was to get the old brigade out and bring new ones in and I was having difficulties with the first part of that job.”
Ex-Sky Sports pundit Souness had returned to Liverpool in 1991 to replace Sir Kenny Dalglish and helped the club win the FA Cup in his second season in charge. He was sacked in 1994 but was credited for bringing through the likes of Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman.
Cantona meanwhile eventually joined Leeds on loan from French side Nimes before making the move to Old Trafford, where he became captain and remains a club legend. He was involved in a series of controversial incidents during his career, none more so than when he ‘kung-fu’ kicked a fan at Selhurst Park.
