The future of Manchester City‘s midfield king Yaya Toure is up in the air once again, with Chelsea being alerted to the player’s potential availability. 

Yaya is currently away from England on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, but the player recently hinted his future is uncertain during an interview with CNN, as reported by Ben Jefferson of the Express:

“That’s a big question [about his future] and that’s an easy question as well, and you have an easy answer—we’ll see. I don’t know. I’m at City at the moment.”

Jefferson says reports in Italy proclaim Inter Milan will make a £7 million offer for the former Barcelona player, triggering a wave of interest from Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool.

Inter boss and former City coach Roberto Mancini commented on the quality of Toure and called the potential transfer situation as “difficult,” per Jefferson:

“I worked with Toure and think he is one of the best players in the world, but right now he is at Manchester City. It’s a difficult issue now, but we’ll see in future.”

Yaya famously fell out with the Premier League champions back in May 2014, per Chris Bevan of BBC Sport, when his agent spoke of a lack of respect surrounding his client when City failed to correctly acknowledge the player’s birthday.

He was instrumental in the Etihad club claiming their second Premier League title in three years, and despite a dip in form this term after the bizarre birthday incident, the 31-year-old remains hugely influential as a genuine goalscoring threat for City.

This season he has hit seven goals in 18 Premier League appearances, per WhoScored, but his ageing legs will help keep his price at a realistic level.

In other news, reports in France say Chelsea are scouting highly rated midfield talent Abdoulaye Doucoure.

The 22-year-old Rennes player has represented France at youth level and is valued at £4 million, according to Alex Harris of the Daily Star.

Doucoure‘s development was halted in 2013 after suffering knee ligament damage, but he has made a full recovery and grabbed a regular starting berth for his club.

The player has previously spoken about his playing style, saying, per Harris: “I’m a deep-lying playmaker. I try to make the team more solid be helping win the ball, and then when we have the ball I look to get forward and get in to positions from where I can score goals and set them up.”

And French football writer Rich Allen recently profiled the player and compared his skill set to that of Yaya Toure: “Indeed, similarities between Doucoure and Manchester City’s Ivorian [Yaya Toure] are visible at times. Doucoure‘s distribution is excellent and he has developed a skill for ghosting into the opposition box unmarked.”

At such a bargain price, Doucoure is sure to attract much attention in the next few months, and if he continues to develop, he will be one of Ligue 1’s most desirable players.

Chelsea could use a powerful central midfielder in their ranks who gives them something different to the destructive qualities of Nemanja Matic and the fleeting skill of Cesc Fabregas.

Toure is still very much a superb Premier League operator, but at Chelsea he would be asked to play a more defensive role.

This may not suit him—at City he has a partner to do most of the covering and screening while he is afforded licence to burst forward.

But Chelsea do miss the threat from deep once offered by Frank Lampard, and Yaya would add this element back into Mourinho’s armoury.

However, with a midfield exploding with flair and beauty, it is questionable whether Toure is a good fit for this current incarnation of Chelsea.

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Inter Milan continued their impressive January transfer window on Monday, announcing the signing of Marcelo Brozovic from Dinamo Zagreb on a two-year loan deal with an option to make the move permanent.

Goal UK shared the news:

The news was confirmed by the club’s official website. Gianlucadimarzio.com’s David Amoyal provided exclusive photos of the player signing his new contract at the Nerazzurri headquarters.    

According to Football Italia, the midfielder’s contract includes a set of parameters set to impact the clause to make the deal permanent. If the 22-year-old Croat does well, the clause will be automatically activated.

The Croatia international was quoted telling Vecernji List (h/t Football Italia) he fully expects to play for the Italian giants, rather than sit on the bench:

I must compete with Gary Medel and Fredy Guarin for a place, sometimes even Mateo Kovacic. There are four of us for three midfild spots, but at Inter there will be room for everyone. I am convinced that I’ll get a lot of playing time.

The signing didn’t come as a surprise, as ForzaItalianFootball shared this image of the midfielder watching his new club take on Torino on Sunday:

Inter currently sit well outside the European slots in the Serie A standings and have invested heavily in the January window, with Brozovic becoming the third major signing for the club after bringing in Xherdan Shaqiri and Lukas Podolski earlier.

Newly appointed manager Roberto Mancini is being given plenty of new toys to work with by club officials. The pressure to perform will only increase as a result.   

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Unless you have been living under a rock for much of this morning, you will be well aware of the recent stories linking Pep Guardiola with an early exit from Bayern Munich, despite only being halfway through his second season at the club. 

According to reports originating in German newspaper Bild, later picked up by Ed Malyon of the Mirror on January 26, the former Barcelona manager has refused to acknowledge or indeed commit to any suggestions that he will extend his contract at the Munich club and instead leave once it runs down following the 2015/16 season. 

The English press, per the Mirror‘s David Anderson, would have us believe that he already has one foot in the door at the Etihad Stadium, with Manchester City poaching him while Manuel Pellegrini still sits comfortable in the dugout, yet there is plenty we have to consider while Guardiola still remains manager of the Bavarian giants. 

Unless the Spanish manager wins the Champions League this year, a contract extension or any hope of finishing his time at the club may no longer be on offer. 

To consider just how precious Guardiola‘s tenure at Bayern may become, we must first realise that this isn’t a club that defines itself on Bundesliga or other domestic competitions. As the critics would suggest, the German top division isn’t exactly a fair race at the moment, and as such the inevitable league title that the Bavarian side pick up in May will add very little weight to Guardiola‘s time in charge.

The former defensive midfielder was brought to Bayern for bigger things. Any decent coach could offer a worthwhile challenge to Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg or even Schalke; Guardiola is in Munich for so much more. 

Naturally, that leaves us with little else but the Champions League to ponder over. The European Cup, as it once was, has always been a defining tournament in the history of Bayern and has continued to highlight the success or inefficiencies of former managers. 

Louis van Gaal never won it, despite reaching the final against Inter Milan in 2010 and as such left the club with a certain degree of frustration looming over his tenure. The Dutch coach won every other trophy available that year, yet fans only remember one game when they look back on that season. 

Similarly, the man who quickly replaced him, Jupp Heynckes, was almost a complete disaster after finishing second to Dortmund in every aspect in 2012. Then, to the disbelief of fans and critics alike, the former Monchengladbach player took his side to a treble-winning season—with a Champions League trophy and his status as a club legend firmly intact. 

This then brings us back to Guardiola, who has already had one stab at the European title whilst in Munich and failed in spectacular fashion when his career-spanning rivals Real Madrid dumped his side out of the competition last year with an aggregate score of 5-0.

This new coach, heralded as the future of Bayern, had took Heynckes‘ side and completely dismantled its ability to win the European Cup. 

Yet that summer saw factors considered, players bought and sold and ultimately Guardiola was excused to have another go at it this season. So far it seems as though we may be looking at a side that could genuinely beat all others to the trophy in May. 

Yet make no mistake; should Guardiola falter in the quarter-finals, semi-finals or even the final again this year then he may find himself replaced and joining his old Barcelona colleague Van Gaal in the lesser pages of Bayern‘s Hall of Fame. 

For should he fail to lift the European Cup for Bayern this year or the next then the board may need not worry about his contract expiring. 

@Sbienkowski

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Once ordained as Claude Makelele’s successor, Rubin Kazan‘s French defensive midfielder Yann M’Vila, 24, continues his decline. 

Failing to make a positive impression on loan at Inter Milan is the latest sad chapter of the M’Vila soap opera.

“[Inter Milan] has big plans. They want to get back to the top and that’s exactly where I want to be,” M’Vila said, per Inter.it. “I’m going to give everything I’ve got for Inter Milan.”

Talk is cheap.

M’Vila says the right things, but actions speak louder than words.

His ability is unquestioned. 

At one point, he was the top French prospect 20 years old or younger, according to Ben Lyttleton at Sports Illustrated. 

In 2011, then-Rennes manager Frederic Antonetti spoke of M’Vila as French football’s future.

“Yann is a combination of the great defensive midfielders,” Antonetti said, per Le Parisien (h/t FIFA.com). “He reads the game like Claude Makelele, has the presence of Patrick Vieira and can pass the ball like Yaya Toure.”

While M’Vila was seemingly destined for greatness, Paul Pogba—an unproven headstrong French talent—had the intrepidness to use his expiring contract as leverage against then-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

M’Vila and Pogba typify how three to four years is a new generation in football.

To succeed in the Italian Serie A or any other elite European league, you need to be a world-class talent, who is in optimal physical and mental shape. 

Pogba ticks in all three categories. 

M’Vila falls way short physically and mentally. 

There is about a €300,000/£230,000 difference in the salaries of Pogba and M’Vila, per Carlo Laudisa at La Gazzetta dello Sport, yet the gap in current playing ability is astronomical.

Pogba will routinely contend for the FIFA Ballon d’Or in years to come, whereas M’Vila needs to critically examine the direction of his career.

M’Vila is being paid six to seven figures a year as a professional sportsman, yet calling him an athlete is the equivalent of saying Milli Vanilli were real singers. 

No one expects M’Vila to have the endurance levels of Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad or to run as fast as Christophe Lemaitre.

But M’Vila‘s physical capabilities have alarmingly declined as much as Fernando Torres‘ first-step.

In three seasons, M’Vila‘s tackles per game has decreased by 2.2, his tackles per 90 minutes by 0.5 and his tackle success percentage by 10.1.

During the 2011-12 season, M’Vila was in peak physical condition, starting all 38 Ligue 1 games and averaging 89.5 minutes for Rennes.

This season for Inter Milan, M’Vila averages 30.9 minutes per game in the Serie A. 

Then-Inter Milan manager Walter Mazzarri gave a Brendan Rodgers-like backhanded compliment when commenting on M’Vila.

“M’Vila came on well in the second half,” Mazzarri said, per Football Italia. “His fitness levels need to improve, but he was better than expected.”

Better than expected? What is that supposed to mean? Was Mazzarri anticipating M’Vila to gas out after 15 minutes?

If so, talk about setting the bar low. The context being Mazzarri was against Inter Milan signing M’Vila, according to Rai journalist Ciro Venerato, per Radio Crc (h/t Football Italia).

When M’Vila was a starter, he was impactless, as revealed by a tweet via OptaJean.

M’Vila was not prepared at Inter Milan as he self-sabotaged himself at Rubin Kazan.

As the expression goes: Old habits die hard.

He is a €12/£9 million flop, who forced his way out of Russia, according to Rubin Kazan manager Rinat Bilyaletdinov.

“M’Vila behaved badly. One day he trained, one day he didn’t,” Bilyaletdinov said, per France Football (h/t ESPN). “He thought he was already in Liverpool. I told him: ‘It is not your level. If you go, you will be on the bench’.”

Bilyaletdinov should have replaced Liverpool with Inter Milan. 

Under Mazzarri, M’Vila started and finished on the bench in three of his first seven Serie A games.

Then M’Vila‘s knee buckled. 

He is out of shape which has adversely affected his confidence, his mobility and his ball-winning prowess.

Succeeding Mazzarri, Inter Milan re-hired Roberto Mancini, a confrontational, firebrand, “do it my way or else” manager.

M’Vila Laurent Blanc’ing Mancini in a 4-2 defeat to Roma were the actions of a defeatist.

By trying to humiliate Mancini, M’Vila dared to question the new Inter Milan manager’s authority.

“M’Vila will never again repeat a scene like that,” Mancini said, per Football Italia. “It was the last time.”

To borrow a phrase from the droll Tancredi Palmeri: BOOM!

Despite still appearing in the team photo, Inter Milan have removed M’Vila from their updated squad list.

Out: M’Vila (Rubin Kazan); In: Marcelo Brozovic (Dinamo Zagreb), per France Football and Sky Sport (h/t Calciomercato.com).

According to a tweet via Sky Sport journalist Fabrizio Romano, Brozovic will initially sign on an 18-month loan with the option to extend into a permanent deal.

Brozovic: upgrading; M’Vila: downgrading.

M’Vila is now open to playing for Swansea City or Queens Park Rangers in the English Premier League, per Matt Law at The Telegraph.

So much for being the next Makelele.

+allanjiang.

When not specified, statistics via WhoScored.com. 

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Paul Pogba is one of the hottest talents in football right now and Chelsea have joined the race to capture the outstanding Frenchman.

Simon Mullock of the Mirror says Jose Mourinho will battle Manchester United and Manchester City for the midfielder who is already being dubbed in Italy as “the €100 million man.”

Pogba left United to join Juventus in 2012 after not receiving enough game time from Sir Alex Ferguson in the first team at Old Trafford, and the prodigious talent has not looked back since departing the Premier League.

The player’s £75 million valuation does not appear to be putting off England’s biggest clubs, with Mullock saying the Old Lady are now geared up to sell the 21-year-old.

Mullock also reports Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are all preparing charm offensives in an attempt to grab Pogba, sparking one of the biggest bidding wars in European club football history.

Pogba‘s agent, Mino Raiola, has further fuelled speculation after he refused to rule out a move for his client in the summer transfer window.

“Paul [Pogba] is happy at Juventus but later this year or next year we will see what opportunities have been created. When the league cannot satisfy such a player then it is time to go,” he said, per Mullock.

The midfielder has once again excelled in the middle of the park for the Serie A champions and has six goals in his 16 league appearances, per WhoScored.com.

He has matched the efforts of Juve‘s primary midfielder, Arturo Vidal, in the centre and is sure to surpass his older partner in the coming seasons.

Italian legend Andrea Pirlo told Telefoot (Miles Chambers of Goal.com) he believes Pogba will go on to be one of the greats in the game if his development continues to stay firmly on track.

“Pogba has never stopped improving. He has everything to become a great player. If he keeps his head on his shoulders, he can mark history,” he said.

However, FourFourTwo’s Adam Digby believes Pogba will stay with his team for the immediate future, quoting Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri’s thoughts on the player’s current situation:

In other news, Chelsea will go head-to-head with Liverpool for the services of highly rated Argentine talent Mauro Icardi.

Bruce Archer of the Daily Star reports manager Brendan Rodgers will battle his former boss Mourinho to capture the £30 million player—with Atletico Madrid also keen on his services.

The Inter Milan hit man has been in stunning form in Serie A this year and has scored 10 goals in his 20 league appearances, per WhoScored.com.

But Archer suggests the Special One will only look to add to his squad if any of his players leave, with Andre Schurrle contemplating his Stamford Bridge future at present.

Pogba and Icardi are both top-class young players and the kind of individuals who would bloat the talent pool in West London.

Pogba truly is the outstanding midfielder of his age group in world football and the €100 million nickname is really not surprising.

The French international would give Mourinho a different kind of option in his midfield—fitting between the calm authority of Cesc Fabregas and the explosive attacking play of Eden Hazard.

Pogba‘s capture would guarantee that this incarnation of Chelsea would battle for the top honours for many seasons to come, but the brilliance of the player will certainly not come cheap.

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When Paris Saint-Germain unveiled Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, it felt as if the Sweden striker had finally found his spiritual home. The Parisian attitude and French way of life are almost metaphors for the majestic talisman’s career.

There is no doubt that the move has been a match made in heaven. Into his third season with the club, Ibrahimovic has scored 64 league goals in 80 appearances, won two league titles and lifted the Coupe de la Ligue.

In September 2013, to show his faith in the capital club’s project, the forward signed a one-year extension on his original deal. Ibrahimovic, speaking to the club’s official website, said at the time: “I don’t see a more ambitious club in Europe than Paris Saint-Germain.”

The 33-year-old, who has also played for Juventus, Inter Milan and Barcelona, added, “my wish is that Paris Saint-Germain is my last big club. This club is like me: the dream is never big enough.”

His current contract comes to an end in June 2016. As we enter the second half of the current season, it is clear the player is not the force he once was.

Injuries are beginning to take their toll on the Sweden international, with a recent heel injury keeping him out for six league games, and he hasn’t looked the same player since.

After 13 league games, he has scored eight goals. Although his strike rate is still comparable to his previous seasons, the performances have lacked the same vigour, enthusiasm and influence as seasons past.

Before the injuries took effect this season, there was a feeling that Ibrahimovic could sense his career was coming to an end and that his extension in 2013 could be his last.

The striker will turn 34 years old just two months into the 2015/16 season, and when asked when and where he would end his career, he suggested it would be in the French capital, per ESPN FC’s Julien Laurens: 

I have a contract until 2016. I will be 34 next season and I don’t see myself continuing to play at the top level after that. So probably the answer is yes.

I have achieved what I wanted in my career, 100 per cent. I have won 23 titles. Of course, it would be nice to win the Champions League, and I feel I can and will win it.

But if my career finishes without it, I would still be happy and proud.

To fulfil his dream of lifting European club football’s biggest prize, he only has a maximum of two attempts with PSG before his contract ends. The Parisians are set to take on Chelsea in this season’s last 16 and will go into that game as clear underdogs.

The odds would be stacked against the Swede in another 12 months. His influence in Paris is already fading and it’s not likely to improve with time. From the recent drop in his form, it is clear that he can’t face the rigours of playing at least twice a week—sometimes three times in seven days.

Laurent Blanc and Ibrahimovic himself need to learn when the forward can rest to make sure he is as close to 100 per cent as he can be for the games he can play. Only then will PSG be able to get the best out of him.

As it stands, Ibrahimovic is one of the highest earners in football, and with that comes a certain pressure and expectation. If he is unable to play 30 league games a season in his current state, there is really no reason for the Ligue 1 champions to continue paying wages past next summer.

However, the player’s agent, Mino Raiola, recently told Foot Express (h/t Get Football News France) that the 33-year-old could go on to extend his current contract:

He will not want to be on the bench for 28 games a season. But that moment is not now. I would not be surprised if at 40 Zlatan will still be playing. We have decided that we will reflect on the situation season by season, so we are not asking that question at the moment. That he extends until 2018? Everything is possible in life, that too.

Ibrahimovic is already PSG’s highest earner, and there is little chance of Raiola negotiating a new deal with a reduced salary. There isn’t really any way the French club could justify paying the Swede the same money they are now when he is 36 years old.

His fitness is already causing issues. It is only going to get worse, and his ability to be this team’s talisman is beginning to fade.

Without doubt, you play him until the end of his contract if he is still able, but come the summer of 2016, it is time for PSG to end their Ibra-odyssey and begin a new voyage, looking for success without the once great Ibrahimovic.

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Chelsea may abandon a mooted pursuit of Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado, in favour of Shakhtar Donetsk playmaker Douglas Costa. The Blues are reportedly prepared to pay £20 million for the latter, per Ed Aarons and Dominic Fifield of The Guardian.

The pair report Chelsea have already made enquiries about the Brazilian schemer, although they also note Shakhtar would want £30 million before sanctioning any sale. At the moment though, Costa is seen as an alternative to proposed £26.8 million target Cuadrado.

There’s some logic to that thinking in the sense Costa is also a tricky attacker who can thrive out wide. However, he’s different to Cuadrado in terms of being more comfortable on the ball.

Where Cuadrado will look to run at defenders and overwhelm them with direct pace and natural power, Costa is a pass-and-move player. He plays a combination game that would work well with Chelsea’s creator-in-chief Cesc Fabregas.

That may suit the more fluid and expansive game manager Jose Mourinho‘s team is playing this season. The Portuguese boss could take advantage of Costa’s desire to move to Stamford Bridge.

Aarons and Fifield cited the player calling the prospect “a dream” and “a unique opportunity,” during an interview with Brazilian publication Globo Esporte. If Costa is so anxious to leave, he could force Shakhtar into accepting Chelsea’s preferred fee.

That would be the best scenario for the Blues for those unconvinced by Costa’s quality. Consider this tweet from Brazil Stats:

A Chelsea move for Costa would surely quash any more talk about Cuadrado. Another report from Fifield and Aarons stated talks continue between Chelsea and Fiorentina. In fact, the reporters suggest Chelsea are making room for Cuadrado by agreeing a six-month loan switch for Mohamed Salah to AS Roma.

For his part, Mourinho has been trying to downplay the Cuadrado rumours. He repeatedly tried to deflect the issue during his latest press conference, as ESPN reporter Miguel Delaney detailed:

Mourinho has also even tried to claim he’s content with his current wide options, including fringe player Andre Schurrle. The Chelsea gaffer stated it would require a “phenomenal offer” before he sells the little-used Germany international, per BBC Sport.

Yet this sounds more like Mourinho attempting to hike the price for a player clearly surplus to requirements. Recently, Mail Online reporter Simon Jones stated Bundesliga club Wolfsburg are ready to offer £23 million, but Chelsea will hold out for £30 million. Mourinho‘s latest words seem like the next step in that plan.

What is clear is that Mourinho is certainly testing the water and casting a wide net in an attempt to freshen things up out wide. Whether the solution he envisages is Cuadrado or Costa remains to be seen.

It also remains to be seen if Mourinho will ever be reunited with Raphael Varane. It was Mourinho who gave the ultra-talented centre-back his big break at Real Madrid.

That’s kept transfer rumours alive during the past two seasons. The latest murmurings have even suggested Mourinho would ditch Varane‘s fellow countryman Kurt Zouma to make way for his former Los Blancos prodigy.

Daily Express reporter Anthony Chapman suggested the Blues would let Zouma join Serie A side Inter Milan on loan if they could land Varane. But Mourinho appears to have rubbished any such idea by stating how happy he is with Zouma‘s progress and ruling out a loan move this month, per ChelseaFC.com:

We bought a talent but that talent was far from ready and at the beginning of the season people were thinking it would be better for him to go somewhere [on loan] and play, but we thought it was better for him to stay and learn here in this habitat where for sure he will be a player for many years. We are very happy with him.

Those comments also coincide with reports of an injury Varane recently sustained in Copa del Rey action. Daily Express writer Anthony Chapman reported the 21-year-old tore a muscle during the cup exit against neighbours Atletico Madrid.

For his part, B/R’s Garry Hayes doesn’t see an imminent move for Varane as very likely:

Although Hayes wisely notes how the Blues could use a young centre-back of Varane‘s quality, particularly amid Gary Cahill’s struggles, it’s safe to assume Varane won’t be leaving the Spanish capital just yet.

Instead, you should focus on what Mourinho does to freshen up his team’s options on the flanks.

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Inter Milan star Lukas Podolski announced his intention to retire from international football after Euro 2016 on Friday, a shocking revelation from the German forward who is currently playing in Italy on loan from Arsenal.

The 29-year-old’s decision was announced through Germany’s official Twitter feed, after he admitted as much in an interview with Bild:

The versatile attacker currently has 121 caps for Germany, via the official website of the DFB, and has been a regular in manager Joachim Low’s teams since the latter took the position in 2006.

Still only 29 years old, Podolski hasn’t been a regular starter in recent year, although he has always been a member of the squad and was among those who lifted the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

His loan move to Inter was viewed in part as a way to ensure he would receive enough playing time to warrant a call-up for Germany, but it now seems the former FC Koln forward will call it quits after 2016.

The forward has mainly made the news for complaining about his lack of minutes with Arsenal and his presence on Twitter in recent months, and Sport Witness couldn’t help but take a shot when they found out he won’t be part of Die Mannschaft beyond the next big international tournament:

A strong season with the Nerazzurri should lead to a permanent move in summer, and while there is plenty of competition for a spot in Germany’s squad, one has to assume the experienced veteran would still make the team if he can prove he’s still every bit as good as he was.

The 2014 World Cup is the only piece of silverware Podolski has won during his time with Die Mannschaft so far.

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Twenty years have passed since the red mist descended on Eric Cantona at Selhurst Park, a moment that, for many, defines the Frenchman’s career.

Cantona was no stranger to controversy before he planted his studs into the chest of Matthew Simmons on January 25, 1995. He wound up in English football following multiple acts of indiscipline in his homeland, including but not restricted to punching a team-mate, throwing a ball at a referee and calling each member of the subsequent disciplinary committee an “idiot,” per Glenn Moore of The Independent.

His rebellious streak dissipated somewhat when he arrived at Leeds United, with whom he’d pip Manchester United to the title in 1992. However, once he’d made his epochal £1.2 million move across the Pennines, Cantona’s maverick genius was soon offset by volatility. As he once said: “I play with passion and fire. I have to accept that sometimes this fire does harm.”

He was sent off in consecutive games not 12 months before the incident at Selhurst Park. The first of those red cards was given for a stamp on Swindon Town’s John Moncur. His reputation preceded him for the second; an innocuous collision with Arsenal’s Tony Adams in an ill-tempered affair resulted in Cantona receiving his marching orders and a five-game ban.

During that suspension, he became the first player from outside the United Kingdom and Ireland to win the PFA Players’ Player of the Year. His return couldn’t come soon enough for the Red Devils. Blackburn Rovers were six points behind table-topping United following the Arsenal game. By the time his ban was up, Rovers were level—United winning just once in the league during his enforced absence.

On his first game back, Cantona scored both goals in a 2-0 derby victory over Manchester City.

United rediscovered their verve during that win and were one month later celebrating the club’s first league and cup double.

A week before the start of the ill-fated 1994/95 campaign, Cantona, a half-time substitute, was sent off in a pre-season friendly against Rangers. After the game, Alex Ferguson delivered some prescient words, per James Traynor in The Independent: “When Eric feels there has been an injustice he has to correct it. He can’t control his temper in such a situation. But I’m still delighted to have him and we will have to live with his faults.”

Just a few days after scoring the only goal in a top-of-the-table clash against Blackburn in January 1995, Cantona lined up for United away at struggling Crystal Palace. Richard Shaw was the Palace player tasked with keeping the Frenchman in check, and he was succeeding. Cantona believed he wasn’t losing that duel fairly, and according to the referee that night, Alan Wilkie, per Jamie Jackson in the Observer (h/t the Guardian), he asked “no yellow cards?”

Alex Ferguson was less subtle with the referee in the tunnel ahead of the second half: “Why don’t you do your f—–g job?”

Unfortunately for the Scot, the referee did just that soon after the restart; Cantona, aggrieved at what he perceived to be another foul going unpunished moments earlier, kicked out at Shaw in front of the referee’s assistant and received a straight red card.

After walking past his manager, who didn’t once avert his gaze to catch the Frenchman’s eye, Cantona was joined by then United kitman Norman Davies for the walk to the changing room. It was on this walk United’s No. 7 met Simmons, who had run down several rows to, in his words, say: “Off you go, Cantona—it’s an early bath for you,” per Philippe Auclair’s biography of the player, Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King.

Other accounts have Simmons’ goading of United’s talisman being far more colourful and xenophobic, per Brian Oliver of the Observer (h/t the Guardian). Regardless, Cantona’s retaliation was inconceivable. Speaking to Jim White of The Telegraph some years later, Cantona couldn’t explain his actions:

Provocation we always had. Millions of times people say these things, and then one day, you don’t accept it. Why? It’s about how you feel at that moment. One day you react, but the words are exactly the same as those you have heard a million times, so it is impossible to say why you react.

The fact he’d employed a kung-fu kick was emblematic of his enigma. Not only had he attacked a fan, he’d done so in the most unconventional manner—producing arguably the iconic image of the Premier League era in the process. Iconic or not, the kick was the catalyst for a backlash unlike anything before.

Trevor Haylett of The Independent’s match report was titled “Cantona brings disgrace to the game.” In it, he suggested that his future in English football was in jeopardy and advocated a lifetime ban. The Guardian’s David Lacey described him as “nitro-glycerine in human form.”

Brian Clough, a man who once punched pitch-invading supporters of his Nottingham Forest team, believed that Cantona needed castrating, per the Evening Chronicle.

Criticism wasn’t exclusive to those outside the club; former United players were just as keen to denounce Cantona and his actions.

In Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King, Philippe Auclair reported that European Cup winning goalkeeper Alex Stepney said he was “disgusted” and that “[Cantona] shouldn’t play for United any more.”

Some club directors shared Stepney’s opinion, according to Jim White in his book, Manchester United: The Biography.

However, his manager stood by him. In his Mail on Sunday column the weekend after the incident, Ferguson stated, per Auclair: “I intend to keep working on him and with him…I have to impress upon him that there will be players and teams who will set out to wind him up.”

Writing in The Independent at the time, Richard Kurt, a regular contributor to influential and recently departed Manchester United fanzine Red Issue, opined that football, “as an entertainment industry that thrives as much on controversy and bad deeds as it does on good play and clean living,” needed Cantona.

The club suspended him for the remainder of the 1994/95 season and fined him two weeks’ wages. The FA’s disciplinary commission fined him a further £10,000 and doubled the ban, which was still irking Ferguson more than 18 years later, per ESPN FC: “[Then-FA chairman] David Davies promised us if we [suspended Cantona ourselves] there would be any more action taken.

“Think about that. A nine-month ban. It is quite incredible. I still can’t get my head round it.”

Lord Rees-Mogg’s famous lifting of Alexander Pope’s “who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?” line to argue that justice should be the same for everyone regardless of their wealth or status could arguably be applied here.

Just a few months earlier, a game between Fisher Athletic and Wealdstone FC saw David Ward of the former make a beeline for a supporter who’d been abusing him during the game and giving him a punch, per John Ashdown of the Guardian. It is unknown whether the recipient was Wealdstone’s infamous Raider getting “some.”

Not being a press-anointed “role model,” Ward’s actions were never going to draw a modicum of the hysteria that followed Cantona’s defining moment of madness. He received a two-week ban.

Two weeks also happened to be the length of the prison sentence handed to Cantona in Croydon Magistrates’ Court just under two months after the incident at Selhurst Park.

Chairman of the bench Jean Pearch used Cantona’s stature as justification for the decision: “You are a high-profile public figure with undoubted gifts and as such you are looked up to by many young people. For this reason, the only sentence that is appropriate for this offence is two weeks’ imprisonment,” per Steve Boggan in The Independent.

As it turns out, two weeks wasn’t the only appropriate sentence—it was reduced to 120 hours of community service on appeal, per the BBC. The Independent reported that he used this conviction to devise and hold a football coaching course for youngsters. While there was the presence of probation officers at these sessions, a reminder that it was a sanction, Cantona later said of the experience, per Auclair: “It wasn’t a punishment. It was like a gift.”

While he was making the days, years and lives of the hundreds of children who experienced two-hour coaching sessions with a man once voted by Manchester United supporters as the club’s player of the 20th century, something changed in Cantona.

The fact he never received another card before his premature retirement from the game in May 1997, per Jim White in The Telegraph, attests to his—while hesitating to use the word rehabilitation—learning during this period.

However, his commitment to Manchester United wasn’t unwavering throughout the suspension. Talk of a move to Inter Milan was never far away, and per John Brewin of ESPN FC, Ferguson had to make an impromptu trip to France to persuade Cantona to retract a transfer request.

Cantona’s importance to Manchester United cannot be overstated, and his compulsory sabbatical is perhaps the most telling illustration. Upon his arrival in November 1992, United were eighth in the table, nine points behind leaders Norwich City. They won the league that season—their first title for 26 years—by 10 points.

With Cantona suspended, United—even with then British record signing Andy Cole leading the line—lacked the guile needed to supplant Blackburn and win a third straight championship.

Once he returned to action in October 1995, he took the as-yet-unnamed “Class of ‘92” under his wing and led United to their second league and cup double in two years, scoring the only goal in six 1-0 victories—including an 85th-minute winner in the 1996 FA Cup final—and winning the FWA Footballer of the Year award.

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