Manchester United legend Paul Scholes admits Eric Cantona was a huge influence on his career.

In his new book, 'Scholes: My Story', which is being serialised in the The Sun, Scholes revealed: "Everybody is aware of the inspiration he provided on the pitch but maybe it's not so widely appreciated that he was always a brilliant bloke, too.

"In those days there used to be a players' pool of cash for various commercial endorsements and when it was divided we'd all get a cheque for the same amount.

"On one occasion, when we were due to receive £1,500 each, it was decided that all the cheques would go into a hat, then whoever's name was drawn out would get the lot.

"Now, £1,500 wasn't much to the older lads, but to the likes of Nicky Butt and me it was a load of cash, so really it was pretty stupid of us to take part in the lottery. When the Frenchman won the pot, everybody was calling him 'Golden Bollocks'.

"But then Eric shut everybody up by just handing the money to Nicky and me, saying that we deserved it for having the balls to take the risk.

"So the pair of us went home very happy boys, all thanks to the generous Monsieur Cantona.

"On the pitch there were still times I was having to pinch myself to believe that I really was a team-mate of this great footballer."