THE CANTONA EFFECT

Almost a decade on, the £1.2million paid for the French maverick in November 1992 looks like peanuts compared to yesterday's record-breaking £30m purchase of Rio Ferdinand which will see the player Leeds cherished as the "best defender in the world" following in those famous footsteps.

The price may be overwhelmingly different, but the end result is likely to be shockingly similar.It will probably rate as the best slice of business ever performed by the canny Scot, but that could yet be rivalled by the arrival of Ferdinand, a player destined to become one of the greatest the game has ever seen.

While Cantona was close to the summit of his powers, Ferdinand, at the age of 23, is likely to be able to offer a decade of service in which he will no doubt mature into the captain of his club and country and provide something that Ferguson has been craving since his crass decision to sell Jaap Stam to Lazio last summer.

United will now stop far more goals than they score and with Ferdinand alongside his new best friend Wes Brown, the pair could mature into the kind of barrier that will give strikers nightmares for years to come.