Son of a professional rugby player, Fabien Barthez started his career in professional football at Toulouse FC, joining Olympique Marseille in 1992 and winning the 1993 European Cup.

He joined AS Monaco in 1995, winning the French League Championship and again in 2000.

Well known for his cavalier charges out of goal, his save from Alessandro del Piero kept France in the Euro 2000 final.

Despite a back problem hampering him at times during the first few months of his Old Trafford career, it didn't take long for him to establish himself between the sticks and cure the club's goalkeeping problem.

United easily had the best defensive record in the Premiership over that season.

The 2001/02 season again reunited him with former France colleague Laurent Blanc in defence but it was not to be such a happy season for the pair as United failed to win silverware, a legacy of some poor defensive showings for which Barthez was especially palapable.

High-profile errors against Arsenal, Deportivo La Coruna and Derby County have hardly added to his reputation but there were still some important saves as the season came to its unsatisfactory conclusion.