‘Best centre-half at the club’ – Jonny Evans’ exit shocked Manchester United legends Sir Alex Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand

A huge applause of appreciation rang round Murrayfield on Wednesday when a 35-year-old Manchester United defender challenged a spritely Lyon attacker with 20 minutes of the friendly remaining.

Jonny Evans was making his first appearance for the club in eight years and the tackle in the Scottish capital was a real throwback, sparking memories of times gone by. The academy graduate had been back at Carrington to retain fitness as he looks for a new club following his release from Leicester.

You would have had good odds on a return to United being his initial next move. The short-term deal he signed has not been specified but the presumption is that it only lasts for pre-season.

“I thought it was a good idea to help each other out – Jonny can work on his fitness, and he can help us out with [our] level,” said Ten Hag explaining his decision.

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“Of course I know [about] him for a long time, I know his place was here, was in Manchester. We welcomed him to come and train with us, to work on his fitness, and then I said not all the players are in, the internationals were out still on their break.

“We know he’s a very experienced player but also a very good person, big personality, and I think he has a big authority as well and he can help the young players especially in such moments. So it benefits all sides.”

Evans’ character is something that has been praised by many who played alongside him and is looked upon as the consummate professional, barring one slightly grey blot on his coffee book.

In March 2015, Evans was deemed to have spat at Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse before the attacker himself spat back after feeling as though it was aimed for him. The incident was not spotted at the time by the referee but Evans was later banned for six matches.

“Having woken up this morning, I am shocked to have seen the media coverage from last night’s match,” he said the day after the match. “I would like to make it clear that I did not spit at Papiss Cisse.”

Cisse was incensed with Evans (Image: Stu Forster/Getty Images)

The incident effectively put in the nail in the coffin for Evans, who started just 14 games during the 2014/15 season under Louis Van Gaal.

He ultimately left for West Brom after 198 senior appearances, a Champions League, three Premier League titles, two League Cups, three Community Shields and one Club World Cup.

Evans was always looked upon as a sturdy selection after impressing in his 2007/08 breakthrough campaign but injuries and inconsistency hampered his momentum. In the 2011/12 season, though, he was riding the crest of a wave and Sir Alex Ferguson waxed lyrical about the Northern Irishman.

“There is no doubt he has been helped playing alongside the experience of Rio [Ferdinand] and he is now arguably the best defender in the country,” he said in April 2012.

“I think his form is down to playing regularly and Rio has helped him too. I don’t know what the fans thought but there were never any doubts in my mind about Evans. He’s been a top player for us this year.”

Nemanja Vidic was out injured and Evans came in to clock up the most appearances in a single season at United that term (40). That season is remembered for all the wrong reasons at United, namely the final day of the Premier League.

There was redemption the following year when Ferguson bowed out holding the Premier League trophy aloft, a campaign in which Evans played 31 times. However, unstable managerial tenures coupled with persistent injuries saw him drop down the pecking order in the following two years as the likes of Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were preferred.

An £8m switch to The Hawthorns was organised in August 2015 – much to the horror of several former United heroes, it turns out.

Two years after Evans’ exit, then-Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill revealed a chat with Ferguson, in which he said the Scot was shocked by the decision to allow Evans to leave.

He detailed: “In September after last year’s (2016) Euros, there was a conference in France for the coaches and Ferguson was there talking about it and he openly said to me that he could not believe Van Gaal had sold Jonny from United because having seen him come through, hee felt Jonny would spend his whole career at United or certainly to the latter stages of his career.”

O’Neill himself added: “When I look around the Premier League and see British centre-backs, I don’t see anyone better. I look at Gary Cahill at Chelsea and Chris Smalling at Manchester United – Jonny Evans is every bit as good as them.”

Reports at the time suggested that others within the club were perplexed by Evans’ seemingly easy exit too. In June of this year, Ferdinand – his former centre-half partner whom Ferguson hailed as a positive influence in his good form in 2012 – aired his thoughts.

Evans and Ferdinand thrived together in 2012 (Image: John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)

“Jonny Evans was one of the biggest travesties in that time to have left,” he said. “He should never have been allowed to leave the club.

“He was the best centre-half at the club when we all left. Smalling’s had a great career, don’t get me wrong, but Jonny Evans is a better player, 100 per cent.”

Perhaps Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was the man to critique the move in the most forthright manner given he was United boss at the time of his 2021 comments.

“You know, Jonny Evans should be a Manchester United player now, of course,” he said ahead of a clash with Leicester, whom he joined in 2018.

“But sometimes football takes you to other places, the changes in management. I am sure that Jonny has feelings for Manchester United and we have feelings for him. So it’s a pleasure to see him playing as well as he does and we have to move on.”

At the time of his exit, there had been some murmurs that a rift had formed between Evans and Van Gaal but the player quickly addressed the whispers.

“I didn’t have to leave, but it was a new challenge and I felt like I was ready for it at that time in my career and it was something I needed,” he said not long after his arrival at West Brom.

“I was reading the situation, how things were going and I had to make a decision for myself. I think he’s a very good manager, with time he will get it right.

“I certainly learnt a lot in the year that I spent with him as coach, things that I will take with me on in my career. I wasn’t waiting on Van Gaal to give me a decision or make a decision for me.

“But the opportunity came up between the club, United and myself and I agreed that maybe it was the right thing for me to move on.”

In fact, upon Van Gaal’s sacking in 2016, Evans was sorry to see Van Gaal go. He said: “I’m pleased for Van Gaal that he won the FA Cup. I think he’s a very good coach and I was pleased to see his team win something.

“A lot of players will be sad to see him leave in a way, especially the younger players. He’s brought a lot of younger players into the squad and given them opportunities. He was very brave and very good at doing that.”

However, there wasn’t a carte blanche approach from Evans towards Van Gaal. He touched on one departure who felt shouldn’t have been shown the door, when explaining his United exit again in 2017.

“There were a lot of decisions at the end with United that were made quite quickly,” he told the Telegraph.

“I’m not saying that on behalf of myself, but I was surprised that Michael Keane was sold at the time. Having been in his position myself and come through United’s academy, I was surprised at that one.”

Michael Keane (centre right) pictured next to Evans. Keane left for Burnley in 2015 (Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

He added: “Me, on the other hand, that wasn’t a surprise. I could see the signs. I felt like it was the time for that to happen. There was no problem. I was looking forward to a new challenge because I knew that once I got playing again, I could really push on.

“I don’t think I would have ever left the club if I’d had that feeling of ‘What if?’. You had Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, two young England centre-backs, Marcos Rojo had come in as a new signing.

“They were younger than me and if there was anyone that was going to move on… I’m not saying that I was playing the worst at the time and they were playing so far ahead, but they were playing more games than me.”

Evans has since picked up an unlikely FA Cup with Leicester before going on to win the Community Shield. Speaking to the Times last year, the centre-half reflected on how rare it is to win silverware when you take a step down from a global outfit.

“You sort of think those opportunities are gone,” he said. “The chances of winning cup competitions are really difficult.

“We knew the difference in opportunities – you probably don’t realise it at the time when you are at such a big club. Whenever you leave a club like Manchester United, you realise your opportunities are going to be limited.”

The experiences he has picked up, though, are coming together to help his boyhood club in a way he probably had never envisoned. Eighteen-year-old Dan Gore summed up what the youngsters think of him already: “Jonny is a top lad.”

Whether he should or should not have been allowed to leave, Evans is back home and being the perfect house guest.

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