Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson once rode a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to convince Eric Cantona to stay at the club.

It was during the time when Cantona got a nine-month ban for kicking a Crystal Palace fan.

He was feeling persecuted and wanted to leave the club.

But legendary boss Fergie had other ideas.

"Eric had been sent into exile and forbidden from training or travelling on our pre-season tour, so it was natural for him to feel isolated and forgotten," said the United manager, as revealed in Wayne Barton's new book, King Eric - Portrait Of the Artist Who Changed English Football.

The United boss went to Paris to find Cantona, and ended up dashing through the streets in a Harley-Davidson with Cantona's lawyer Jean-Jacques Amorfini.

The two eventually chatted at an empty restaurant owned by a friend of Cantona's.

Ferguson recalled: "Eric agreed and the rest of the evening was spent reminiscing about great football matches of the past.

"Those hours spent in that largely deserted restaurant added up to one of the more worthwhile acts I have performed in this stupid job of mine."