Jamie Ireland
Manchester United announced on their official twitter feed that long-serving left back Patrice Evra has agreed a one year contract extension with the club.
The veteran defender’s contract was due to expire next month but new manager Louis van Gaal and those at United clearly see the benefit of keeping some experience around.
It was expected that Evra would leave a free agent, with his choice of a big money move back to France with Paris Saint Germain or former club AS Monaco.
For me, United were in real trouble if they had allowed Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra all to leave at the same time. That would be a lot of experience walking out the door.
It is a sensible move for United to keep Evra for at least another season, even if Luke Shaw is bought and is given the starting role, Evra is van Gaal’s safety net.
Shaw is a prospect and an exciting one at that, but with youth comes unpredictability and for certain matches, having a Patrice Evra in your squad is never a bad thing.
Even with Evra staying, there is still a major re-shaping of the back four needed. Will van Gaal be satisfied with his pick of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans?
I would highly doubt it. But unfortunately for him, top quality centre-backs don’t grow on trees and as is the Ajax way, the centre back will need to be a great passer of the ball.
