Eric Cantona returned to Manchester on Thursday night with a swipe at the attitude of City's foreign signings, principally Carlos Tevez, who say they cannot wait to get out of the place.

"I had a great time in Manchester," the former United striker said. "I cannot understand anyone not liking it, though I suppose it depends on where they come from and why they are here. The most important thing for me was always to play, and if you are at one of the best clubs in the world then you should enjoy it. As a professional footballer the greatest time you have is on the pitch, but I loved the city as well, the club and the people."

Cantona was in town in his capacity as director of soccer of New York Cosmos, the revived US franchise who will be providing the opposition for Paul Scholes's testimonial at Old Trafford on Friday evening. Sitting next to him at a press conference in Manchester's northern quarter was no less a personage than Pelé, the honorary president of Cosmos, but it spoke volumes for the popularity of Cantona in these parts that almost all the questions were addressed to the iconic Frenchman.

"I didn't want to do the typical ex-player thing and hang around my old club, though I must admit it's great to be coming back with Cosmos," Cantona said. "If I am going to try to be a manager I wanted to do it at a special club, and that it just what the New York Cosmos is. The city is unique and the club history is legendary."

Officially that club history ended in 1984, when after the heady days of Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and others the club folded with the rest of the North American Soccer League. The present New York Red Bulls tried to acquire the name but were rejected, but the former Tottenham Hotspur director Paul Kemsley successfully managed to get Cosmos up and running again.

They still need a stadium, have yet to be accepted into the MLS and now face competition for spectators from the Bulls, but as Kemsley said, to be able to play your inaugural game in front of 77,000 fans at Old Trafford would be a coup for anyone. "We are quite privileged to be in this game, it will be the biggest thrill in the world on Friday," he said. "We just hope we can do justice to United States football as well as Paul Scholes."

When Pelé did get a word in edgeways he suggested his old club had never really died, and certainly not failed. "Cosmos never, ever finished," the Brazilian great insisted. "If you look at America now, everyone between the age of seven and 20 plays soccer, and that is all because of the Cosmos. I have always worked hard to establish the game in the US, and I am proud of what was achieved. Even before the club re-formed, everyone still talked about the Cosmos. It was a success. Look at how well the US team did in the women's World Cup. Look at how many American footballers there are now in every part of the world. Before the Cosmos came along, there were hardly any."

Cantona is looking to continue that process, not just through star names and some of the trendiest retro merchandise around, but by bringing through young American talent.

"We have a lot of things to do and we want to do them well," he said. "Of course you can buy players but we have a huge steam of emerging talent to tap into and our aim is to run a successful academy, along the lines of Auxerre, Barcelona or even Manchester United. The talent definitely exists in the US. I would say the US is capable of winning a World Cup in the next 20 years or so, and I believe the Cosmos can help in that process, in exactly the same way as Barcelona and their academy helped Spain."

Were that to come about, Cantona would inevitably be linked with a return to Old Trafford in a coaching capacity. Would he fancy succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson? "Maybe I will die before Alex Ferguson," he quipped. "We all know what a great job he has done. Paul Scholes was a great player, but Manchester United will not miss him. Just like they did not miss Hughes, Beckham, or me.

"You always think it might be the end, but when you have a strong academy and a history like United's, any player can be replaced."