But here's the thing about Cantona: he was never utterly prolific like Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy or other United greats. His 82 goals in five years put him 23rd in the club's list of all-time scorers, below Bruno Fernandes, David Beckham and even Anthony Martial.
His highest goal tally in a season was 18, in an era when Andy Cole and Alan Shearer struck 34 times in single campaigns. He was only United's top scorer in two of his five seasons. But he compensated with a huge number of assists, 63 in total. And he delivered when it mattered most, such as scoring the only goal in the title decider at Newcastle in 1996 or late on in the FA Cup final against Liverpool that same year.
Cunha, who is the same age as Cantona was when he joined United, has a long, long way to go if he wants to truly live up to the comparisons with the Frenchman. He is well aware of that. "I need to do much more things to be compared to him," Cunha told The Sun this season. "I feel privileged to be associated with these kind of things and with Cantona also. He made history. And if I can do a little percentage of what he did already, I’ll be very happy and then try to build my way to the guys to remember me also."
But at the Emirates Stadium Cunha set down the right path towards following in Cantona's footsteps and he just needs to keep on going.