Patrice Evra: Broken promises led to a bitter departure from Manchester United

What's the story?

Former Manchester United and France left-back, Patrice Evra has spoken about his acrimonious decision to move away from Old Trafford in 2014.

In case you didn't know...

Evra joined Manchester United from AS Monaco in 2006 and spent 8 seasons in Manchester before moving to Turin to join Juventus in 2014.

The French full-back won 5 Premier Leagues, 3 League Cups, FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Champions League during his time at Manchester.

The 38-year-old announced his retirement from football yesterday having last appeared for West Ham United in 2018.

The heart of the matter

Evra, who retired yesterday, spoke about his surprising exit from Manchester United in 2014 and the circumstances that led to him leaving the club.

The French full-back had signed a one-year contract extension at the club but left for Turin after just 2 months.

"Before the end of that season Ed told me: 'Patrice, you're going to stay for another year because we've got an option in your contract,' but I told him I needed to leave because of family reasons. He shook my hand and said he understood. Then in May I was having dinner in Dubai on my birthday and had a text from my agent. He told me to go somewhere quiet and sent me a message with the statement from United saying they were pleased to renew my contract for another year."

The Frenchman said that at that juncture, he felt extremely dissapointed. He called Ed and swore to him on the phone and even threatened him. Ed said that Evra couldn't talk in that manner to the director of the football and told that he was even going to fine the latter. But Evra was visibly perturbed, and had this to say of the situation above,

"I'd already said to my wife we were going to leave, but inside I didn't ever really feel I could. That gave me a little push."

Patrice Evra later patched up his relationship with Ed Woodward as the Frenchman himself explains what might've made Woodward make the decison.

"Of the senior players I was the only one he wanted to keep - even David Moyes had said it before he got sacked. They said to [Rio] Ferdinand and [Nemanja] Vidic, we don't need you anymore, but in the dressing room you need a character. I understood Ed, but I didn't understand why he betrayed me. He should've called me to explain."

Patrice Evra has explained to Sky Sports how broken promises led to a bitter departure from Manchester United in 2014

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) July 30, 2019

What's next?

Patrice Evra will now finish his coaching badges but has expressed his desire to continue working in TV shows while alsoexpanding his brand.