Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United should never have sold defender Jonny Evans, before bringing him back this summer.
There has been much consternation about Raphael Varane‘s struggle to get into the Manchester United starting XI in recent weeks.
The under-discussed side of the coin is that the player keeping him out, Jonny Evans, has genuinely been performing really well.
Evans has been a valuable contributor since making a surprise Manchester United return as a free agent in the summer.
Signed originally as first team squad depth, an injury to Lisandro Martinez threw the competition for centre-back slots wide open. It is fair to argue that Manchester United’s defeat in the Champions League to Copenhagen last week was as much to do with Evans’ injury as it was with Marcus Rashford’s sending off.
Rio Ferdinand on Jonny Evans
Jonny Evans made his Manchester United debut way back in 2007 and went on to win three Premier League titles under Sir Alex Ferguson.
He was sold in 2015 by Louis van Gaal, who inherited a side on the wane after the disastrously short-lived David Moyes era.
Speaking to his Five YouTube channel, former teammate Rio Ferdinand said Evans was the best centre-back on the club’s books at the time of his sale.
Ferdinand explained: “I thought he was the best defender at the club when he left. He 100 per cent should have stayed. The manager at the time, Van Gaal let a few players go he shouldn’t have let go.
“Chicharito, Rafael, Welbeck, Fabio, Jonny Evans, there’s four or five there, these are guys who understand the complete fabric of this club and you are just letting them go, for players who are just coming in, some big names who never worked out. The recruitment at the club in and out just hasn’t been good enough.”
Who was on Manchester United’s books in 2015
Unlike Danny Welbeck and Rafael da Silva, Jonny Evans did get a full season under Louis van Gaal in 2014/15, making 14 Premier appearances, but was rarely considered first choice. The Northern Irishman was sold for just £8 million.
This was a period of major upheaval in terms of recruitment, with Ed Woodward‘s scattergun approach to the transfer market in full swing.
At the time, Evans was competing against Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, and Marcos Rojo, with Paddy McNair as a back-up.
Ferdinand makes the case that Evans was the best of the bunch, but Van Gaal did not agree, and set Evans packing.
In the summer, Manchester United made a surprise U-turn, and Evans made a surprise comeback to the club on a one-year deal. The veteran looks determined to make the most of his second chance.
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