Patrice Evra has opened up about his conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson that led to him picking Manchester United over Liverpool. He compared the meeting to an interview with the FBI and claimed that he felt like the Scotsman would kill him if he rejected a move to the Red Devils.
The Frenchman joined Manchester United in 2006 and stayed at the club until 2014. He joined from AS Monaco and moved to Juventus before calling it time on his career after a short stint at West Ham United.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand's VIBE with FIVE YouTube channel, Evra claimed that he was scared of Sir Alex from their first meeting. He recalled talking with the legendary manager and said:
"Sir Alex spoke with my agent and we met at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. He didn't speak French so it was more David Gill [negotiating]. My English wasn't great so my agent was translating. I remember he was asking questions like, 'do you drink?' 'No'. 'Do you like to go out?' 'Sometimes'. 'Are you ready to not lose a game?' 'Yeah'. 'Are you ready to not even draw a game?' 'Yeah'."
He added:
'I feel like it was an interview from the FBI. And when I shook his hand - everything I say I was like, 'I'm ready - if I let him down, this man is going to kill me', so it was really impressive. Before United came my agent said we had Liverpool, Inter Milan, and United. I remember my agent was so excited and saying, 'Patrice, it's Manchester United'."
Evra continued:
"I was watching United because of Eric Cantona, so this was a big influence [on me], but when I met [Ferguson] you feel something special. If you do well for this man you will win and achieve things for this club."
Patrice Evra on Manchester United under Erik ten Hag
Patrice Evra wants Manchester United to play ugly and has urged Erik ten Hag to win ugly. He also urged the club to sign Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid in the January window but the Portuguese star moved to Chelsea.