It wasn’t so long ago (last season, in fact) that Patrice Evra was viewed as a symbol of everything that was wrong about this particular Manchester United team. Yes, he’s a former captain, but in the last few years his overall game has started to slow down and he’s been offering diminishing returns.
He was still capable of the occasional nice moment last season, but these didn’t crop up enough to save his place in the squad. When the summer rolled by, Louis Van Gaal diligently assessed his options and decided that the time was about right to send the Frenchman packing – he ended up at Juventus. Fans were sad to see him go, but most felt it was the right decision.
It probably would have been too, if The Red Devils had spent their money sensibly in the summer transfer window. Instead they splurged their cash on exciting attacking options whilst neglecting their defence.
By the end of the summer they had lost Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, three players who were mainstays in the club’s defense. They had a serious experience deficit and the players that have been brought in to replace them don’t seem to be doing a good job.
This leads me to The Metro’s claim that Manchester United are hoping to sign Patrice Evra in the January transfer window. That’s right, the same Patrice Evra who they just sold to Juve. If Van Gaal does pull this deal off, he’ll essentially be admitting that he made a big mistake last summer.
On the face of things, this looks like a very strange deal indeed, but I’m still a little intrigued by the prospect of Evra moving back to the Premier League. He knows the club, he knows this team and he’s still good enough to play when called upon. He’d definitely be a stop-gap measure whilst United’s hierarchy look at other options, but that’s not to say that this move wouldn’t work out in the short-term.
Rival fans would probably just use this opportunity to laugh at Manchester United, but there’s no reason why Van Gaal and co. can’t make it work.
What’s your take? Would you like to see Patrice Evra in a Manchester United shirt again?
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