Sir Alex Ferguson has published details of a private letter he sent to Eric Cantona after the Frenchman decided to retire in 1997.

The Scot provided a version of the letter in his new book Leading, and in it he discusses the club’s tour of the Far East, the signing of Teddy Sheringham and the club’s performance in the Charity Shield. He also reveals that he was hoping the forward might still turn up at training despite his decision to hang up the boots.

Fergie also tells Cantona that he’s always welcome at the club and that he has a friend in his former Old Trafford manager should he wish to discuss anything over a cup of tea.

The letter reads in full, per the Independent:

Dear Eric

Some months have passed since we last spoke and I felt that I should write to you as a mark of respect and esteem in which I hold you.

When we re-started training, I kept waiting for you to turn up as normal but I think that was in hope not realism and I knew in your eyes when we met a Mottram your time at Manchester United was over. Although, I still feel you should have taken both your Father’s and my advice and taken a holiday before making such a major decision.

One thing I would like you to remember is to remain active and fit. I always remember when I finished at 32 and I started management, I was more concerned about organising training and the coaching of players that I forgot about my own fitness and then when I realised about six years later what was happening, I started to train again to recapture my fitness and it was murder, so you do need to keep your fitness.

I am sure you have been keeping an eye on our results and as you can see we are doing quite well as you know we have signed Teddy Sheringham to replace you but at the moment he is finding it difficult to find the space he got at Tottenham and is playing deep so we have some adjusting to do. Players sometimes don’t realise how difficult it is to play at our level as every game is a Cup Final for our opponents so I just hope he can do it for us.

Our pre-season tour wasn’t too bad. The Far East tour was better than expected and our games against Inter Milan were very good. The Charity Shield wasn’t a great performance but we were better than Chelsea and deserved to win, even though it went to penalties.

I still feel as we discussed at the end of the season that a top class striker is what is needed and that is always going to be the problem at our club as the financial restraints will always stop us getting the best because of our wage structure and it is such a pity because when you are at at the top you should buy the best to stop the others getting to you. If I was younger, I suppose I would look at it differently, but from a personal point of view, I have not won the European Cup and it does get to me at times. However I just carry on and not put up a mental barrier and I have always had that belief and trust in my players and wish to continue to do so. I keep hoping that i will discover a young Cantona! It is a dream!

As I close this letter, I would like to hope that we will have a chat, a drink, or a meal together soon. I know the club has written to you about the forthcoming dinner and I hope you will manage it, but that is not the most important thing, for it is to remind you how good a player you were for Manchester United and how grateful I am for the service you gave me. I will never forget that and I hope you won’t either.

You are always welcome here and if you just pop in unexpectedly for a cup of tea, no fanfare, just for a chat as friends, that would mean more to me than anything. Eric you where I am if you need me and now that you are no longer one of my players, I hope you know you have a friend.

Good luck and God bless,

Yours sincerely

Alex Ferguson CBE

A truly great gesture from a truly great manager.

[H/T Independent]

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Barcelona star Neymar has fuelled rumours of a potential move for Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho to the Camp Nou by saying he would like to join forces with his Brazil teammate at the Catalan club.

Coutinho is arguably Liverpool’s best player, but he is now being linked with a move to Barcelona after Neymar suggested he is good enough to join the European champions, per the Daily Mail‘s Pete Jenson:

“Coutinho is a crack (top player) and I would like to play alongside him for Barcelona. He has the level to play for Barca.”

Jenson suggested that the 23-year-old Coutinho could be a cheaper alternative next summer to Barca’s prime midfield target, Juventus’ Paul Pogba.

If the Brazilian midfielder were to depart Anfield for the Camp Nou in 2016, it would be the third successive season in which Liverpool have lost their best player—following Luis Suarez‘s move to Barca and Raheem Sterling’s switch to Manchester City.

Indeed, former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has already warned of the dangers of losing Coutinho, per Bleacher Report UK:

However, it seems like a distinct possibility that the former Inter Milan man may not stay past next summer.

In a team now without Suarez, Sterling and Gerrard, Coutinho looks like the only player who is capable of consistently turning a game in Liverpool’s favour.

However, he has not been able to propel manager Brendan Rodgers’ side to a successful start to the new Premier League campaign, and Liverpool now sit in 13th place, having picked up just eight points from their first six matches.

Coutinho was suspended for the Reds’ biggest game of the season thus far against Manchester United, a match in which Liverpool looked devoid of ideas going forward and got on the scoresheet in the 3-1 defeat only because of a Christian Benteke wonder goal. 

If Liverpool fail to finish in the top four this season, at the least, Coutinho is likely to look elsewhere for Champions League football.

He arrived at Anfield from Inter in 2013 for a bargain £8.5 million transfer fee and is only in the first year of a new five-year contract signed in January.

Liverpool will thus be able to demand a big fee, should Barca or any other club come in for him next summer.

However, the big-money sales of Suarez and Sterling have yet to return any effective reinvestment, and should Coutinho leave the club, it will be another indication that Liverpool are no longer able to hold on to their best players.

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Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he was once interested in signing Mario Balotelli before he was dissuaded by reports of the Italian’s attitude.

Ferguson quit the top job at United after 27 years of success at Old Trafford, but in 2010 he says he considered signing Balotelli from Inter Milan.

However, as he revealed in his new book, Leading, he was warned off the wayward forward by various contacts in Italy, via MailOnline’s Matt Barlow:

In 2010 I briefly flirted with the idea of signing Mario Balotelli, the talented but controversial Italian striker. I did my homework on him, speaking to a few Italian contacts, but the feedback I got confirmed it was too big a risk. I don’t know whether this sort of candid professional courtesy exists in other fields, but for me it was a Godsend.

Balotelli eventually signed for United’s local rivals Manchester City in August 2010 for £22.5 million.

His early endeavours with City were relatively successful. He played a key role for the Sky Blues in their 6-1 thrashing of United in the 2011-12 season and set up Sergio Aguero for his famous title-winning goal on the last day of the same term against QPR.

However, his relationship eventually broke down with manager Roberto Mancini and he was sold to AC Milan for £19 million in January 2013.

The 25-year-old’s downward trend has continued and he now finds himself back on loan at Milan after a disastrous lone season with Liverpool.

Ferguson was undoubtedly well advised in the case of Balotelli. Reds boss Brendan Rodgers ignored similar advice and was punished for it, per the Guardian‘s Daniel Taylor.

It is not unimaginable, though, that Ferguson may have known how to deal with Balotelli and been able to draw out his talent to its full potential.

The Scottish manager famously dealt with the mercurial Eric Cantona in such a way as to turn him into one of the most dangerous attacking forces in the Premier League.

One such talent that he was unable to bring round was Paul Pogba, who departed for Juventus on a free transfer in 2012.

The 73-year-old has put the blame for the Frenchman’s departure—Pogba is now widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world—squarely at the door of the player’s agent, Mino Raiola, again in Leading (via Jamie Anderson in the Daily Star):

There are one or two football agents I simply do not like, and Mino Raiola, Paul Pogba’s agent is one of them. I distrusted him from the moment I met him. We had Paul under a three-year contract, and it had a one-year renewal option which we were eager to sign. Raiola suddenly appeared on the scene and our first meeting was a fiasco. He and I were like oil and water. From then our goose was cooked because Raiola had been able to integrate himself with Paul and his family and the player signed with Juventus.

The departure of Pogba has turned out to be a big blow for the Red Devils. They have since been forced to spend huge money on the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger to strengthen their weak midfield.

However, there is no guarantee that the 22-year-old would have made the same advances had he stayed on at Old Trafford as he has with Juve over the last few years.

Ferguson has little to regret as he looks back on his career at United and failing to keep Pogba was seemingly beyond his reach. Eschewing the chance to sign Balotelli, though, was one of many masterstrokes.

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Things are looking up for Milan again.

After years of mediocrity, months of uncertainty and weeks of bedding in new players, the Rossoneri are thinking positively. The last fortnight has witnessed improved performances thanks to revised team selections and coach Sinisa Mihajlovic’s tactical schemes beginning to take effect.

A 1-0 defeat to city rivals Inter Milan was taken on the chin, with fans enthused by the overall display of the team in spite of the result. Mihajlovic was himself pleased, confidently assessing post-match that he had found “his team,” according to Sky Sports (h/t Football Italia). That was followed by a 3-2 home victory over Palermo on Saturday night.

The win over Palermo had its ups and downs. Milan conceded two equalisers before finally sealing the three points courtesy of a Carlos Bacca header, but while Milan were far from perfect, the win is in itself a sign of progress, as it was the type of game they would have blown last season.

With more of a spring in their step, Milan will now travel east to face Udinese at their newly refurbished Stadio Friuli home. The Zebrette are proud of their new-look stadium but have yet to achieve league success there; so far this season, they have lost both of their home games against Palermo and Empoli.

Having begun their campaign with a surprise 1-0 away win over champions Juventus, Stefano Colantuono’s side have lost three successive Serie A matches to find themselves in 16th place. While Milan have improved in recent weeks, Udinese have fallen off the pace.

And so it is with vastly contrasting moods that Milan and Udinese meet, with the former aiming to take another step forward on the road to redemption and the latter hoping to halt a steep decline.

Date: Tuesday 22 September

Time: 19:45 BST/2:45 p.m. ET

Venue: Stadio Friuli, Udine, Italy

TV Info: BT Sport Europe (UK)

Live Stream: Not Available

Form Guide

Udinese 1-2 Empoli

Lazio 2-0 Udinese

Udinese 0-1 Palermo

Juventus 0-1 Udinese

Udinese 3-1 Novara (Coppa Italia)

Milan 3-2 Palermo

Inter 1-0 Milan

Mantova 2-3 Milan (friendly)

Milan 2-1 Empoli

Fiorentina 2-0 Milan

Team News and Predicted Formations

Udinese will be without Panagiotis Kone after the Greek midfielder was sent off for two yellow cards in their weekend defeat to Empoli.

With Kone absent, Colantuono may well bring talented young Portuguese playmaker Bruno Fernandes back into the fray. Fernandes is a more attacking choice but could provide good energy and creativity to an otherwise staid midfield.

French central defender Thomas Heurtaux could also return to the starting lineup after an unsteady performance from Molla Wague against Empoli, while further forward Udinese have a dilemma as to who to start up front.

Antonio Di Natale is a legend, but his ageing legs are not always the optimum choice on a counter-attacking team. A more viable attacking duet could see powerful Colombian Duvan Zapata, on loan from Napoli, paired with Cyril Thereau, the man who put Juventus to the sword in the first week of this season.

Mihajlovic has fewer selection concerns, with most of his headaches likely to be of the positive variety. Up front, he must decide whether to rest one of Carlos Bacca or Luiz Adriano and bring in Mario Balotelli, while the likes of Luca Antonelli and Andrea Bertolacci could be available again after injury.

Ignazio Abate suffered a knock against Palermo before being substituted early on and thus may be a doubt for this game. If that is the case, there is immediate space for Antonelli to come back in on the left, while Mattia De Sciglio returns to the right. If not, 18-year-old Davide Calabria made a good impression from the bench against Palermo and could be used again.

Bertolacci is less likely to return to the lineup, even if fit. In his absence, Juraj Kucka and Giacomo Bonaventura have played well in the centre of Milan’s midfield diamond, providing a combination of dogged persistence and creativity.

Udinese (3-5-2): Orestis Karnezis, Thomas Heurtaux, Danilo, Ivan Piris; Edenilson, Manuel Iturra, Bruno Fernandes, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Ali Adnan; Antonio Di Natale, Duvan Zapata

Milan (4-3-1-2): Diego Lopez, Ignazio Abate, Cristian Zapata, Alessio Romagnoli, Mattia De Sciglio; Juraj Kucka, Riccardo Montolivo, Giacomo Bonaventura; Keisuke Honda; Luiz Adriano, Carlos Bacca

Players to Watch

Ali Adnan (Udinese)

Iraqi left wing-back Ali Adnan arrived at Udinese in the summer, in doing so becoming the latest player to benefit from the club’s extensive scouting network. At 21 years old, he came with a reputation as a promising talent and so far has lived up to expectations.

WhoScored.com rate him as Udinese’s best player so far this season, with his attacking intent particularly noteworthy; none of Adnan’s teammates have come close to his 2.5 completed dribbles per match, and his 2.5 key passes per game are also unrivalled.

The statistics are an indication of what Adnan provides to Udinese. His attacking forays down the left side are an important component in Colantuono’s 3-5-2 system, and he will have to be watched closely by Mihajlovic‘s right-back.

Riccardo Montolivo (Milan)

At the start of this season, Riccardo Montolivo’s future seemed unsure. It was rumoured that he was not seeing eye-to-eye with Mihajlovic after being left out of Milan’s opening league game away to Fiorentina, as Sacha Pisani reported for Goal.com.

There seemed to be no place for him in the team, though now, after being given a chance against Inter, Montolivo looks like an integral piece in Mihajlovic’s midfield puzzle.

The turnaround has been quick and fairly unexpected. Nigel de Jong began the season as Milan’s midfield enforcer of choice, but after the opening two league games in which a lack of control was evident, he was dropped in favour of Montolivo for the Derby della Madonnina.

Montolivo put in an assured performance to make sure that when it came to picking the team for Palermo on Saturday, Mihajlovic kept the Italian international in there.

From the deep-lying position he has shown his full passing repertoire, gathering possession from the defenders and starting moves. His 88.3 per cent pass accuracy, according to WhoScored, is a testament to his technical quality.

Key Battle

Carlos Bacca vs. Danilo

Bacca has made a fast start to life in Milan, scoring three goals in four league appearances to confirm his class. In the process, any doubts as to his ability to settle in Italy and penetrate Serie A’s well-organised defensive lines have been firmly swept aside.

Joining Milan as one of European football’s in-form strikers, he has yet to strike up a fully functioning relationship with fellow new signing Luiz Adriano, but Bacca isn’t waiting for them to click and has shown himself to be capable of taking on the goalscoring burden alone for the time being.

In Danilo, Bacca will find himself up against an experienced Serie A customer, one who has been a regular for Udinese over the past four years.

The Brazilian will likely be partnered by two of Molla Wague, Thomas Heurtaux or Ivan Piris to form a back three, as Udinese seek to stifle attacks before countering.

With Adriano yet to hit top form and Balotelli yet to start since returning to the club, Milan will require Bacca to be at his cutting, clinical best if they are to break through Udinese’s defence.

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Milan eventually won a back-and-forth contest at San Siro on Saturday, earning their second league win of the season with a 3-2 victory over Palermo.

The Rossoneri took the lead in the 20th minute thanks to a well-crafted Carlos Bacca finish. Palermo equalised 12 minutes later through an Oscar Hiljemark header from a corner kick.

Milan regained the lead before half-time, with Giacomo Bonaventura curling home a delightful free-kick on 40 minutes. Palermo head coach Giuseppe Iachini was given a red card in the aftermath of the goal.

Palermo leveled the score again in the 72nd minute, with Hiljemark played through after an intricate passing move to slot beyond Diego Lopez for his second. However, Milan simply weren’t to be denied, and Bacca got his second of the game with 15 minutes remaining, rising to head home from a Juraj Kucka cross.

Milan held on to seal an important win that follows on from their improved performance against Inter Milan last time out.

Here are our winners and losers from the match.

Begin Slideshow

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Half-and-half scarves have divided the football world, but we can’t imagine there’ll be many interested in the latest piece of half-and-half gear on sale to supporters at the Inter store.

Matt Barker on Twitter spotted this Inter jacket with Juventus branding on the inside.

A slightly more subtle way to remain on the fence, perhaps, than this:

[Twitter]

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