Patrice Evra has suggested this week that he will not be signing a
contract extension at Manchester United, meaning he will leave the club
in the summer when his current deal expires.
The Frenchman has come a long way since his derby day debut in 2006
when he was substituted at half-time after being given a torrid time at
the Etihad Stadium.
‘I could tell he was angry,’ Evra said of Ferguson. ‘He just looked
at me, deadly serious, and said, ‘Mr Evra, now just watch and see what
is English football. And learn’.’
He’s now vice-captain at the club and one of the most popular players amongst the fans.
He seems to really understand what it means to be a United player,
and speaks about the club with great appreciation and affection.
‘I got a load of DVDs,’ he said a few years ago, when reflecting on
when he first joined the club. ‘About the Munich disaster and the Busby
Babes, about Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law, about Cantona.
The whole story of the club.
‘All the young players here need to understand the history of the
club. I realised I needed to respect the shirt. I needed to respect the
story. Every time I play that is in my head.
‘What a privilege it is to play for Manchester United. When you pull
on the shirt you are pulling on history, and I say thanks to God that I
play for this club.’
Whilst there’s no faulting his attitude, it’s hard to argue his
performances on the pitch are as impressive, with his form dwindling
since 2010.
For the most part, it has been ignored by the fans, with plenty of
Reds hailing the number of goals he scored last year and ignoring his
defensive weaknesses.
It used to just be Aaron Lennon, of all people, who got the better of
him, but now most weeks he is given a tough time by whoever is playing
on the wing.
It’s hard to imagine that any other player would be forgiven as
easily as Evra is for such mediocre defending, but that is an indication
of just how well loved he is.
A few years ago, Evra was keen to leave the club for ‘family reasons’
and both Inter Milan and Real Madrid were keen on signing him, but Sir
Alex Ferguson talked him in to staying.
He has averaged 47 games a season over the past six years and hasn’t
had much, if any, competition for his starting place in the team.
Ferguson loaned out Fabio Da Silva last season and brought in
Alexander Buttner, meaning Evra’s spot was safe for another season.
The manager had been keen on bringing in Leighton Baines but the club couldn’t come to an agreement with Everton.
David Moyes went in for Baines again this summer and thought he had
secured the signing of Fabio Coentrao at the last minute, but when both
moves failed the manager insisted he wasn’t looking to replace Evra.
‘I just felt we needed to make sure we had good cover for Patrice,’ he claimed.
You would imagine that United will go back for Baines again in
January, when he’s 29-years-old, and be forced to pay massively over the
odds to sign him.
Southampton’s Luke Shaw is also an option and probably a more sensible one given his age.
Fabio, who was in our starting line-up for the Champions League final
just two years ago is also a possibility, but with just one game at
right-back this season, you have to wonder whether the manager fancies
him.
The 25-year-old Coentrao has hardly had a game at Real Madrid so we might return for him.
Still, whoever replaces Evra, and however competent they might be, we
won’t have a player that brings to the club what Evra does, and he will
be sorely missed.
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