Who are the greatest players in Manchester United’s history? The Athletic gave Andy Mitten the task of compiling his top 25, and we are counting them down this summer, in reverse order.He explains his thought process here.Eric Cantona played 185 times, scoring 82 goals, for Manchester United over five seasons. Only Duncan Edwards, who died at Munich aged 21, played fewer in this list, but Cantona made an outsized contribution to the history of United for several reasons.One — and this became a cliche but it’s true — he was the final piece in a jigsaw which unlocked United’s first league title in 26 years.United had finished second to a Leeds United side part-inspired by Cantona in 1992, then pulled off a transfer coup for the ages when a chance conversation led to him signing at the end of November that year for little over £1million.Already knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Torpedo Moscow, the team had failed to score in four of their six previous games. Something was needed to break United’s goal drought, which saw them beaten by Aston Villa in the League Cup and slipping to eighth in the league.Then Eric arrived, shirt collar up, ready to strut the stage. He’d been to Old Trafford with Leeds and caused a major stir by performing so audaciously that the K Stand stood to applaud. That’s hardcore Manchester United fans applauding a player from the despised Leeds United.Within a month of Cantona’s first United match, a 2-1 home Manchester derby win, United hit top position and he’d scored in four of the six games. So much for him being un enfant terrible as the French media had characterised him after his often controversial spells at Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier and Nimes.“He brought priceless presence and style to the team,” said Sir Alex Ferguson in his first autobiography. “He was not the overwhelmingly confident person many perceived him to be. He needed nourishing. Like most players he liked to be told he was special. I never tired of watching him train and marvelling at his level of concentration. Whether playing or talking, Eric never gave anybody reason to question the richness of his imagination.”