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Defenders: Patrice Evra, Ryan Shawcross, Gerrard Pique, John O'Shea
French footballer Patrice Evra was one of the best left-backs Manchester United ever had. Prior to signing for The Red Devils, Evra had played for Italian clubs Marsala and Monza as well as French clubs Nice and Monaco.
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His arrival made him the first choice for Alex Ferguson and Mikael Silvestre had to take a back seat. In his 9 seasons with the Premier League giants, the Senegal-born player made 379 appearances across all competitions and scored 10 goals.
He was also an integral part of the French national team. Evra moved to Juventus on 21 July 2014 but United fans would certainly have hoped that he stayed at the club for a little longer as their defending woes have continued for a long time now.
Post Juventus, Evra played for Marseille in 2017 and is currently with West Ham United.
With Manchester United, Evra won 5 Premier League titles, 3 Football League Cups, 5 FA Community Shields, 1 UEFA Champions League, and 1 FIFA Club World Cup title.
Ryan Shawcross is one of the most experienced defenders in the Premier League. He is currently the captain of Stoke City.
The Chester-born player was a product of Manchester United's youth teams. He made only 2 appearances for The Red Devils but went on to become a legend later. Shawcross was first sent out on loan from United to Belgian club Royal Antwerp in 2007 and then to Stoke City later the same year.
His career is best remembered playing for The Potters. In his 431 appearances for Stoke, Shawcross scored 24 goals. The 31-year-old is still going strong and playing his 12th season with the club even though they were relegated to the Championship last season.
The veteran center-back won the Stoke City F.C. Player of the Year for his sublime performance during the 2013–14 season.
Few people know that Spanish defender Gerrard Pique was also a part of Manchester United once. In his 4 years with the club, he only got 23 appearances in the senior team due to the presence of established center-backs in the side.
He was also loaned out to Real Zaragoza during the 2006–2007 season before going on to sign for his boyhood club FC Barcelona permanently on 27 May 2008. The rest is history and the modern defender is still enjoying a successful time with the La Liga giants.
Pique has won 7 La Liga titles, 6 Copa del Rey titles, 3 UEFA Champions League titles with FC Barcelona apart from winning 11 other major trophies. The tactically versatile player also formed an important part of the Spanish national team until announcing retirement from international football on 11 August 2018. One can only imagine how good it would have been for The Red Devils had Pique stayed with them.
Another extremely versatile player, John O'Shea, was a vital cog in the Manchester United line-up during his prime years. The Waterford-born player is among the most decorated Irish players of all time.
In his 10 seasons with United, O'Shea scored 15 goals in 393 appearances overall. Sunderland roped him in on 7 July 2011 for an undisclosed fee paid to United. After 6 fairly successful seasons with The Black Cats, the Irish legend signed for Reading on 6 June 2018 and is currently playing for them.
He won 14 major trophies with United and could have gone on to help his side win more had he stayed a little longer.
