Ferguson to give 'Little Cantona' his United debut

ERIC DJEMBA DJEMBA will finally get his chance to impress Alex Ferguson tonight, with the Manchester United boss predicting his new African signing will bring something extra to the Old Trafford party.

Ferguson has barely clapped eyes on the Cameroon midfielder since tying up a £4.2million transfer for the 23-year-old from Nantes early last month. Along with Mikael Silvestre and Fabien Barthez, Djemba Djemba was excused United's two-week pre-season trip to the United States and given extra recovery time from his country's Confederations Cup commitments, in which Cameroon's run to the final was completely overshadowed by the untimely death of Marc-Vivien Foe.

While Ferguson and his party have been wowing America with their goal-ladened four-match winning streak, Djemba Djemba has been put through his paces by Brian McClair at United's Carrington training base.

But he will be unleashed against Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese capital this evening when an impressive performance could put him in line for a spot in the side to face Arsenal in Sunday's Community Shield.

"We watched Eric on quite a number of occasions, and all the reports were pretty good," said Ferguson. "I was certainly impressed when I saw him. He has certain attributes we don't have, and that will help him to blend in with the squad."

Djemba Djemba is viewed as the likely replacement for Roy Keane when the United captain decides his time at the club is over. The African earned rave reviews in France with his combative style, although he may be asked to curb his aggression to avoid the high number of yellow cards he picked up with Nantes.

Djemba Djemba says his early inspiration and role model was Old Trafford legend Eric Cantona.

"The first football shirt my dad ever bought me was a Manchester United shirt with a number seven on the back, which was Eric Cantona's at the time," he said. "From that age, when I used to kick about in that shirt, my nickname in Africa was 'Little Cantona'. That has stuck with me all the way through to the national team."

A positive impact over the next few days could also signal the departure of Juan Sebastian Veron, who would be allowed to leave Old Trafford should Chelsea increase their offer to a figure more in line with United's £18m valuation. With Brazilian World Cup winner Kleberson due to have his work permit application heard on August 11, Ferguson has admitted he has far more central midfield players than first-team slots for them to occupy.

Even so the United boss, who has stated in the past he wants Veron to stay, believes that will be an advantage in the months to come.

"We have a great array strength in that area, and at the moment I don't relish the prospect of picking a midfield for the start of the season.

"You also have to remember Phil Neville and Quinton Fortune did fantastic jobs for us as well last season. We are overloaded to some extent but come the winter I think we will appreciate that. It may turn into one of our strengths."