Artists working at a Manchester studio were left speechless by a recent surprise visit from none other than Man United legend Eric Cantona.
The former United forward’s love for the city has never waned no matter how many years have gone by and as a lover of all things art, be it music, painting, acting or what he did with a football, he never fails to engage with local culture whenever he’s here.
He may not be based here anymore but the Frenchman – who knows a thing or two about art given his past acting jobs, newfound music career and previous showcases – still pays plenty of visits to 0161, including a recent unannounced one.
Cantona was back in the city centre this week to pay GRIT Studios resident Michael Browne, the artist who he collaborated with to create his National Football Museum exhibition last year, but the one thing Browne didn’t do was let the other people working in their city centre location he was coming.
Credit: GRIT Studios Manchester (supplied)
To be fair, anyone would double-take if they saw Eric Cantona walk into a room, so this was quite a memorable occasion for the unsuspecting artists.
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After working on 2023’s From Moss Side to Marseille with Browne, the 58-year-old has been reimmersing himself in the world of Manchester art and there aren’t many places that epitomise that more than GRIT, who are based in Stockport with a second studio at Great Northern Warehouse.
Landing in Manchester from Paris, Cantona arrived in the late morning and ended up staying for over an hour, taking time to meet a number of artists and tour the space with co-founder John Macaulay.
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Clearly impressed with their work and genuinely enthused by the sense of community within the local grassroots art scene, it was a special visit for everyone involved.
John, a die-hard Man United fan who has seen the Red Devils play in 25 countries before going on to set up GRIT Studios and much-loved Art Battle MCR with his wife Sophie, said: “It’s full circle for me having watched Eric play all over the world, it’s true honour that he’s flown in to see our talented artists.”
Artists spent time chatting with Eric and talking through their creative processes; those present included mosaic artist, Francis Thorrington, plein air (outdoor) artist, Sketch MCR – a.k.a. Ben Rock – painters Jodie Silverman, Helen Davies and Sophie Macaulay, as well as woodworker Gus Riddell.
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Also a fellow United fan, Francis said he simply “couldn’t stop smiling the whole time” after Cantona described his work as wonderful.
Eric looked at home when he picked up and started strumming Chris Pollin’s hand-made guitars, which are handcrafted from driftwood and take hundreds of hours of work.
The enigmatic sports personality turned pop philosopher and cultural figure clearly enjoyed the visit. His final message was that it was refreshing to see a place where “art was for everyone” not just the elite.
As for Browne, he is sworn to secrecy on his next project but let’s just say you can expect some big announcements in the coming weeks. As for GRIT, you can visit one of their open days this Saturday, 16 November and make sure to check out their Stockport studio if you’re in the area.
Manchester United have been linked with a move for a Real Madrid legend
Danny Jones
Manchester United are reportedly interested in signing football legend and former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, over a decade on from the last time he was linked with the club.
Yes, after the notion of signing the Spanish defender first cropped circa 2009, and then again in 2015 (that time with the possibility of David de Gea famously going the other way), the European footballing veteran is set to be pursued by a number of teams next month.
One might even consider a third turn around the ‘could he?’ carousel towards the same club, not unlike the Wesley Sneijder-Man United equivalent of the transfer rumour mill.
Nevertheless, it appears as if it’s come round once again, though it remains to be seen just whether or not the story has any serious legs.
According to Spanish news outlet and radio station, Cadena SER, Sergio Ramos is now being eyed up for a potential move to Manchester, and the idea of him finally donning a United shirt might not be so far-fetched after all.
Now 39 years old and having personally announced that he won’t be signing a new deal at CF Monterrey, he will soon be available as a free agent in the upcoming January transfer window.
Ramos, a World Cup and Euros winner – not to mention serial La Liga and Champions League trophy collector – joined the Mexican club back in February after more than 16 years with the European giants, but his contract runs out at the end of this December.
Despite being set to enter his 40s and already well into the second decade of his professional career, the latest is that the Red Devils have now put forward a ‘formal offer’ to reunite the established, serial winner and senior star with his former and equally decorated teammate, Casemiro.
🚨🚨🌖| BREAKING: Manchester United have formally put forward an offer to bring Sergio Ramos to Old Trafford in the January window. [@La_SER via @goal] pic.twitter.com/QpOlL4izk2
It goes without saying that not only will numerous teams be throwing their hat in the ring to sign Ramos this January, but any side would benefit from having such a strong and experienced leadership presence in the dressing room, let alone Ruben Amorim‘s squad.
Better still, bringing in a player of his calibre on a free will be seen as an absolute coup by whoever eventually secures his signature.
However, as per GOAL (who also shared the claims made by Cadena SER earlier this week), while the Spaniard is said to have no intention of hanging up his boots just yet and still wants to try and compete at the top level, it is thought he would like a second return to Sevilla.
The belief is that when Ramos does retire, it will be back at his boyhood club – but before that, we couldn’t really be about to see him in the red of a Man United shirt… could we?
A short train ride away to Cheshire, and being a big Man United fan basically counts, if you ask us.
Yes, Warrington’s very own Luke Littler has been named on the shortlist for the 2025 Sports Personality of the Year, quite literally 12 months from his previous nomination.
Littler, who is still only 18, did go on to win the 2024 Young SPOTY last December – a very decent consolation prize following his blockbuster debut year or so – but he has been tipped as a bookies’ favourite this time around.
He’s also been voted for that award again this year, so you’d hope he’d be walking away with at least one of the trophies, though it’d be far from his only one of late.
Since then, the young sporting prodigy has gone on to win all but two of the 10 PDC majors, including two Premier League Darts titles.
In fact, if you want to look at how his arrival onto the senior professional darts circuit breaks down, you can take a gander at the frankly staggering stats behind his breakthrough down below.
As you can see, other nominees include former Manchester City Women’s star Chloe Kelly and Lioness, Hannah Hampton; rugby union and national team member, Ellie Kildunne, F1 favourite Lando Norris, as well as Irish golfer, Rory McIlroy (not for the first time).
We’ll confess we’re very much biased and backing local lad Littler – sue us.
The other Young SPOTY nominees for 2025 include another rising England star in Michelle Agyemang and Northern Superchargers cricket talent, Davina Perrin.
Being hosted over at MediaCityUK in Salford once again, voting will take place during the show on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer on Thursday, 18 December.
Danny Jones -
15th November 2024 
