sport news Eric Cantona offered to be Manchester United's 'President of Football' trends now Eric Cantona offered to be Manchester United's 'President of Football' and help turn the club's fortunes around... but was rebuffed by Ed Woodward who the Old Trafford legend says is 'great at marketing but not great at football' Man United legend Cantona offered his services as 'President of football' He met former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward on several occasions Cantona, 56, believed Woodward should concentrate on the marketing side But the United hierarchy turned down his offer to make club's football decisions Cantona scored 82 goals in 185 matches for United between 1992 and 1997 By Adam Shergold for MailOnline Published: 08:51 BST, 26 September 2022 | Updated: 08:59 BST, 26 September 2022 Viewcomments Eric Cantona put himself forward to become Manchester United's 'President of football' - but was turned down by former chief Ed Woodward. The Old Trafford legend met up with former executive vice-chairman Woodward before he left his post in late 2021 and offered to be a figurehead for his former club. Cantona proposed that Woodward and others concentrated on the marketing side while he made all the football decisions - but his idea was rebuffed. Eric Cantona met with Ed Woodward and offered to become Manchester United's 'President of football' - but was rebuffed by the former executive vice-chairman The Frenchman is a club legend at Old Trafford after almost five rollercoaster years there 'Last year, I proposed to the club to change their way,' Cantona told The Athletic. 'Ed Woodward is great at marketing but not great at football. United should have a chairman and then they should have a president of marketing and then a president of football, who is in charge of all the decision in football. 'So I proposed to them that I should be president of football. 'I met him [Woodward] a few times. But they did not accept it! I still think me or somebody else, they should have somebody for football. 'It should be somebody from the club, who knows football and the club. 'But they did not want me to be the president of the club! They did not want me! And the fans have to know that I went and travelled to Manchester to give them the opportunity to succeed in the next decades. And they did not want it!' Cantona met with former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to discuss his proposal United's American owners, the Glazer family, put great faith in Woodward to run the club Cantona pointed out that United have doubled their revenue since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 but standards have slumped on the pitch. The club have failed to win the Premier League title since 2013, with their only successes coming in one-off Europa League, FA Cup and EFL Cup wins. Last season was a particular disaster with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sacked in November following a terrible sequence of results before the team continued to drift under the interim charge of Ralf Rangnick. New manager Erik ten Hag has since come in to try and restore United to former glories and was backed to the tune of £215million for new signings over the summer. French forward Cantona, 56, scored 82 goals in 185 matches for United between 1992 and his shock retirement from the game in 1997, winning four Premier League titles and two FA Cups. Cantona's time with United also featured the infamous kung-fu kick on Crystal Palace fan Matthew Simmons, which saw him banned from football for nine months. Cantona is a United icon, having scored 82 goals to help them to win three league titles Cantona infamously kung-fu kicked Crystal Palace fan Matthew Simmons in 1995 He subsequently became an actor and thespian with very little direct involvement in football since. But Cantona was determined to play his part in turning United's fortunes around. He added: 'I felt guilty not trying to help this club to do better. I said to myself, 'For five years I will put everything on hold and concentrate 100 per cent on that'. 'And if I concentrate 100 per cent on that, then I can tell you, I would do it very well. 'Now I feel good with myself. I tried. So nobody in my family can say I did not try anything to help United. They did not want it. That's their choice. But I tried it.' Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility