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."

Manchester United are said to be closing in on a deal to sign Leny Yoro.

Leny Yoro’s stats have been compared to Liverpool star Jarell Quansah ahead of his move to Manchester United.

Over the last few weeks, young defender Yoro has been linked with the likes of Real Madrid, Liverpool and United.

Although it was first thought that the Frenchman preferred a move to Madrid, it was reported on Wednesday that United were closing in on the deal to sign the 18-year-old.

Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano wrote on social media: “Leny Yoro to Manchester United, here we go! Deal in place after first part of medical completed.

“More tests to follow then he’s ready to sign five year deal valid until June 2029. Lille and Man United have all documents set for deal worth €50m plus several add-ons.”

Ahead of Yoro’s move to Old Trafford, his stats from the 23/24 season have been compared with highly-rated Liverpool defender Quansah.

The 21-year-old Englishman enjoyed a breakout season under Jurgen Klopp, often partnering Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the Liverpool defence.

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According to Squawka, Yoro had a better passing accuracy of 92.16% compared to Quansah’s 88.76%.

However, Quansah came out on top in terms of the number of forward passes, aerial duels won, aerial duel success and ground duels won.

Quansah also made more ball recoveries than Yoro, 5.5 compared to 4.2.

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Yoro is set to be United’s second transfer of the summer after successfully signing Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee.

Speaking in his first interview with the club, Zirkzee said: “I have a lot of trust and a good feeling about this step. It wasn't a difficult decision. I mean, I love Bologna a lot, but Manchester United just gave me a very, very good feeling.

“I'm confident that what's planned will also happen. It's been a rollercoaster, the past few weeks. Some very good experiences and I'm very happy to be here. Obviously, making a transfer to Manchester United is something very positive.”