Eric Cantona: I can't understand why Ronaldo left Manchester United for Real Madrid
Last modified 23:08 15/08/09 By Simon Mullock
Eric Cantona has told Cristiano Ronaldo that he left the biggest club in the world when he quit Manchester United to join Real Madrid.
French legend Cantona, now earning a living as an actor 12 years after he shocked United by announcing his retirement, says he could not comprehend Ronaldo’s desire to make an £80million move to the Bernabeu.
The Portuguese international has insisted that Madrid represented a step up from United.
But Cantona believes money now rules the game he loves.
And the man who walked away from United because he felt he was being exploited is typically critical of the billionaire investors who are buying clubs and pricing traditional fans out of the game with exorbitant ticket prices.
“I can’t understand why he [Ronaldo] would want to leave United,” said Cantona.
“For me the biggest club in the world is United. When you are at United, if you don’t have a problem with the club, if they give you the contract and if they really want you to play, then you can’t have any problems. I don’t understand why he’d want to leave.
“All the owners of clubs now are businessmen.
“I’m not sure if football was like this 20 years ago. I’m not sure these people would buy United or Chelsea or Liverpool then.
“When we see these kind of businessmen as owners of the clubs I’m not surprised that they don’t care about working-class fans.”
Cantona also revealed his favourite United goal. He said: “The one I prefer was in the [1996] Cup Final against Liverpool.
“Because it was a new generation of players. It’s not the best goal but it’s the best for all of us. It was the beginning for a great generation.”
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