Eric Cantona says he would not have joined Man Utd if Sir Jim Ratcliffe was owner

Manchester United legend Eric Cantona stated he would never have signed for the team if current co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was in charge.

It follows fresh controversy this week after Sir Jim claimed in a BBC interview that the United Kingdom is in decline because "nobody’s tough enough to deal with the immigration problem".

Ratcliffe had previously identified the France forward Cantona as his favourite United player.

But when United fan Pete Boyle, on his TikTok channel, asked Cantona if he would have signed for the club under Ratcliffe, he replied: “No, Of course not.

Cantona helped United win four Premier League titles in five seasons (PA)

“You know what I think about all of this, with this kind of politics and I cannot understand that someone like this can say something like this when he’s one of the owners of the club.

“Football is a very popular sport. Football is made – all the greatest players come from different waves of immigration. Everywhere, in France, in England, everywhere.

“In France for instance, the greatest players in France, they all come from different waves of immigration.”

Cantona moved to Old Trafford in 1992 from rivals Leeds and helped the club win four Premier League titles in five seasons.

Sir Jim was previously criticised for his comments about immigration (Reuters)

Over the weekend, Ratcliffe said he could see why rich people are leaving the UK, describing the country as “on the slide”.

When asked about the issues that politicians should focus on, Ratcliffe said immigration was “clearly one” as well as high taxes.

“We had the greatest empire in the world. We were a great people. We won two world wars,” he told the BBC.

But he criticised politicians for a reluctance to act on what he called the “immigration problem” and the “benefits problem”.

“Nobody’s tough enough to deal with the immigration problem. Nobody’s tough enough to deal with the benefits problem. But somebody needs to do it,” he said.

Sir Jim attracted criticism earlier this year after he said the UK had been “colonised by immigrants”.

He later issued a statement saying he was sorry if those remarks had “offended some people”, with then-prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and then-mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham among those who condemned them.