5 Most successful January transfer signings in the Premier League

#3 Patrice Evra (AS Monaco to Manchester United)

The Frenchman first started playing as a forward but was converted into a winger after he joined the Paris Saint-Germain academy. After failing to make it through at the Ligue 1 side, Patrice Evra had short stints in the academies of quite a few clubs. However, it was at Nice that he first played as a left-back.

After making the move to Monaco in the summer of 2002, he permanently shifted to the left-back role, at the advice of the then Monaco coach, Didier Deschamps. The Frenchman showed great promise during his three and a half year stint with the Ligue 1 side and eventually caught the eye of Sir Alex Ferguson.

The legendary Scot was searching for a left-back to bolster his defence and Evra fit the bill perfectly. Manchester United signed the Frenchman for £5.5m from Monaco in January 2006 and he was handed the No. 3 shirt. Initially, Evra struggled to adapt to the new league and could only manage 14 appearances in the second half of the 2005/06 season.

He continued to be in the fringes of the first team the following year but showed signs of improvement with every passing game. By the start of the 2007/08 season, he had laid a permanent claim to the left-back role and became an important member of the team as well due to his leadership qualities.

Evra went on to play for Manchester United until the end of the 2013/14 season before he departed for Juventus. By then, the Frenchman had won numerous trophies and had etched his name in the United folklore.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

Know More

Edited by Zaid Khan