Patrice Evra has sung the praises of fellow Frenchmen Eric Cantona, claiming that he paved the way for their other countrymen to join United,

“I already knew Cantona was ‘The King’, but I really discovered who he was when I arrived here,” Evra told the official website. “He is a legend. If French football players like me succeed at United, it is him who first opened the doors for us. We will never thank him enough for that. During my first season, I watched lots of Eric’s DVDs and told myself, ‘You now know what the United fans are expecting from the French players’.”