Footballer-turned-actor Eric Cantona is lining up a long-shot bid for the French presidency, hijacking an as-yet lacklustre election campaign to highlight the housing needs of the poor.

After failing in a quixotic bid to destroy global banking, the man known to Manchester United fans as King Eric has written to French mayors to secure the 500 signatures needed to stand in April’s election.

But Mr Cantona appears to be applying one of his legendary footballing feints on the political field, using the unlikely presidential run to secure his real aim – help for one of his favoured charities.

Patrick Doutreligne of the Abbe Pierre Foundation for Housing for the Underprivileged, of which Mr Cantona is a patron, told AFP that the footballer did not actually expect nor want to be the next president of France.

“He will indeed seek 500 signatures, not for the election but so that housing is a priority. So that the mayors sign up to the foundation’s call for mobilisation, so that housing is the campaign’s main theme,” he said.