But here’s what’s interesting about Cantona: he was never truly as prolific as Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy or any of United’s other greats. His 82 goals in five years puts him 23rd on the club’s all-time top scorers list, behind Bruno Fernandes, David Beckham and even Anthony Martial.
His highest number of goals in a season was 18, in an era when Andy Cole and Alan Shearer scored 34 goals in a season. He was only United’s top goalscorer in two of his five seasons. But he made up for it with a huge number of assists, a total of 63. And he delivered when it mattered most, such as scoring the only goal in the title decider at Newcastle in 1996 or in stoppage time in the FA Cup final against Liverpool the same year.
Cunha, who was the same age as Cantona when he joined United, still has a very long way to go if he is to truly live up to comparisons with the Frenchman. He was well aware of that. “I need to do more things to compare with him,” Cunha told The Sun this season. “I’m honored to be associated with this kind of thing and with Cantona too. He made history. And if I could do a small percentage of what he’s done, I’d be very happy and then try to build my way so that people remember me too.”
But at the Emirates Stadium, Cunha has walked the right path to follow in Cantona’s footsteps and he just needs to keep going.
