Sir Alex Ferguson will go down in history as one of football’s greatest-ever managers.

Sir Alex Ferguson "worst ever signing" was recommended to him by the legendary Eric Cantona but ended up playing just two times.

Back in December 1995, Manchester United were in the middle of a injury crisis in central defence. Key senior defenders Gary Pallister, Steve Bruce and David May were all unavailable for selection.

United needed a new centre-back and quickly. Cantona suggested a mate who he had played with at the Auxerre academy.

William Prunier, 28, jumped at the chance to move to the Red Devils and bought himself out of his contract at Bordeaux to secure a dream transfer.

It was initially on a trial basis, the idea being that United could look at Prunier during training sessions and see if he was up to scratch.

But then that plan never worked out and due to another injury blow, this time to the uber reliable Denis Irwin, Prunier was thrown into deep-end.

He performed well in his debut, even getting an assist for Andy Cole in a 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers on 30 December.

He also smashed a long-range effort against the bar and looked like he could do a job for United.

But the second Premier League outing did not got anywhere near as smoothly after Ferguson had said it would be the real test for Prunier.

United, with their makeshift backline, travelled to White Hart Lane to play Spurs just days later and their preparations were affected by Paul Scholes falling ill before kick-off, and Peter Schmeichel pulling his calf but soldiering on as best he could for the first 45 minutes.

What followed was a crushing 4-1 defeat on New Year's Day, a result that put an end to Prunier's United experience.

He was said to have been offered an "extended trial" despite the player himself claiming a three-year deal was on the table but couldn't be thrashed out.

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In his 2015 autobiography, 'Leading', Ferguson labelled Prunier as “a disaster” and he was voted as United's sixth worst-ever player in a poll.

Prunier amassed nearly 500 appearances and, in addition to winning the Intertoto Cup alongside Zinedine Zidane at Bordeaux, played for Auxerre, Copenhagen, Marseille, Napoli and Toulouse.

He did also sign a deal with Hearts but never played a single game after not feeling wanted.

Prunier was capped once by France and named in the 2002/03 Ligue One Team of the Year.

Asked if being described as a flop annoys him, Prunier told The Telegraph: "No, everyone thinks what they want. It was a very enriching experience, a dream and an honour, and I don’t regret it."

Roy Keane has revealed every detail from his brutal 10-minute meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson which ended his Manchester United career.

Keane enjoyed a legendary spell at Man United under Ferguson, but his time at the club came to an abrupt end in 2005.

He left by mutual consent after giving an explosive interview on MUTV, where he ripped into his own teammates.

The outburst was deemed too damning by Man United as Ferguson and David Gill called an emergency meeting, where they terminated his contract.

The exchange between Keane, Ferguson and Gill lasted a mere 10 minutes, leaving the former Man United captain's solicitor stunned.

The Irishman has insisted that he feels blameless for his bitter departure as he underlined his disgust at Ferguson and Gill.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast - brought you by Sky Bet, he said: "I get my anger is obviously a long time ago but the worst anger you can have is the justified anger where you feel - again I feel - I hadn't done anything wrong.

"I was 34, I had a broken foot, and my contract was coming up, it was an easy fix for [Manchester] United to go, 'Your days are numbered, alright, cheers, thanks a lot' - and I've seen players leave but I could have left in the summer.

"My solicitor, my client, who did all my deals, the most relaxed, placid man you’d ever meet, I’ve seen him negotiate - a very good man and knew a good deal - but he almost fell off his chair.

"Ferguson and [David] Gill went, 'We’ve come to the end and here’s a statement'. I was like, ‘'Alright' and he was like, 'What?!' I said, 'Leave it Mike', and they went out and I said, 'Yeah, I’m out of here', and he [my solicitor] couldn’t believe it - all within ten minutes."

Roy Keane and Sir Alex Ferguson raise the Premier League trophy. Image: Getty

Keane added: "I just think if people think that little of you, I’m not going to go, 'Well you know, I’m going to see my contract out'. Believe it or not, I thought too much of the club. I could have easily gone, 'Is that what you think of me? But I’ll see out my contract, I’ll come in everyday'.

"In hindsight, [I could have said], 'We’ve come to the end, yeah, but I’ve got a contract with Manchester United just like you do with United' - you’re on about principles but when something like that is in front of me, I’m like disgusted with people, I go, 'I wouldn’t even want to see you again'.

"I was home by half nine, quarter to ten, my wife’s gone, 'What’s happened?', I went, 'It’s over'. They still hadn’t done my termination, and Mike was like, 'I can’t believe it’s happening' and then statements came out, then I found out that day I couldn’t go to another team - so I couldn’t play until January.

"If I’d have known, I would have said, 'I’ll just train with the reserves and get myself fit', so I left Manchester United having not played for two or three months with a broken foot, and I couldn’t go to anyone until January. I was in no man’s land."