Eric Cantona should be the patron saint of the transfer window. Despite having passed on to the afterlife of French arthouse cinema he is not strictly dead, but he is remote enough to be an object of veneration for all tense football managers. He is remembered with awe as the perfect signing at the ideal moment.

Although there was no fixed period of recruitment in his day, he came to Manchester United at a critical, mid-season stage, making his debut in December 1992.

The three leading Premiership clubs have just completed vastly expensive transfer deals and each of them would settle for seeing their sides perceptibly strengthened, let alone transformed by a Cantona effect.

Scott Parker, Louis Saha and Jose Antonio Reyes are asked to do no more for Chelsea, United and Arsenal respectively than help keep their new clubs in the thick of the exhausting battle. No single signing will ensure that one club remains aloof.

Spellbinding as it was, the tale of Cantona was much too odd ever to be recreated elsewhere. He would not have been bought if Alex Ferguson had persuaded the mighty yet less charismatic Alan Shearer to join in the summer of 1992. He would not have been bought in that tight-fisted era of United budgeting if Dion Dublin had not broken a leg. He would not have been bought if the then Sheffield Wednesday manager Trevor Francis had let Ferguson have his first target, David Hirst.

So Cantona arrived semi-accidentally after a moment of last-gasp inspiration by the Scot. Nowadays, the forward might well have been left at Elland Road. Cantona, after all, had already appeared in European competition with Leeds, but his ineligibility was of no relevance to Ferguson because that season United had been knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Torpedo Moscow in the first round.

The scene today is utterly different. United, Arsenal and Chelsea regard themselves as serious contenders for the Champions League and therefore confined their scouting to the narrow band of talented footballers who are not cup-tied.

United will be happy with the £12 million signing of Saha if he relieves the dependence on Ruud van Nistelrooy by showing he can be an alternative spearhead when the Dutchman is injured. Ferguson can also visualise the two men as the kind of old-fashioned pairing that the team has lacked since Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke started to fade.

Saha's pacy runs at defences should complement Van Nistelrooy, who relies more on elusive movement in the goalmouth. United would have to revert to a 4-4-2 formation, but Saha will have to prove that he is worth his valuation. He is not the first person intended to partner van Nistelrooy.

Diego Forlan has long since been cured of his goallessness but his reputation is still not in robust condition. Neither the Uruguayan nor Saha can be sure of selection because, with the highly important Ole Gunnar Solskjaer coming back to fitness, Ferguson may instead use the Norwegian, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs as deep-lying support for the marauding van Nistelrooy.

Despite the milling crowd on Chelsea's books, Parker may well make more appearances than Saha. Of this week's trio of major signings, he is the one whose experience and adaptability should aid him most in finding a slot in the team. Claudio Ranieri believes the £10 million signing can occupy any berth in the midfield diamond.

Specifically, Parker may slot in for Claude Makelele or Frank Lampard when either is rested. He can cover and make the sort of interceptions that are the key to the Frenchman's influence. More interestingly, his awareness has sharpened lately so that he makes more of the skills that have been obvious ever since he was a teenager. The two exquisite goals at Southampton also suggest that he could mimic Lampard's attacking threat.

There will, however, be a greater excitement at the prospect of watching Reyes launch himself at defences. With Dennis Bergkamp, Nwankwo Kanu and Sylvain Wiltord out of contract in the summer, Arsenal were willing to commit as much, potentially, as £17.5 million to refresh their attacking resources.

At 20, Reyes is too young to be typecast. With his tendency to come off the right wing and on to his left foot, he could be a turbo-charged mirror image of Robert Pires. Then again, the signing from Sevilla may be granted his wish and operate as an auxiliary striker.

Unlike Parker and Saha, he has to make the transition to Premiership life, adapt to a new culture and complete the journey to maturity all at the same time. Reyes looks the least qualified of the three to make an instant impact, but he could eventually be the greatest success of all.