Devils have been reduced to a laughing stock, say Evra
PATRICE EVRA has not held back after slamming Manchester United officials, claiming they have turned the club into a laughing stock.
The Red Devils started the Premier League season with a loss against Crystal Palace at home.
Wilfried Zaha scored twice and Jordan Ayew grabbed one as well, with fans furious at the club owners. They believe that United have been too slow in the transfer market, with just one arrival to date.
Donny van de Beek has joined from Ajax but the top target, Jadon Sancho, looks further than ever. A bid for Sergio Reguilon also fell through, with him set to join Tottenham instead.
And Evra has had enough, claiming top-ranking officials have led the club down the wrong route.
“Now we’ve become just a club where people just laugh about us,” said Evra. “But we let people talk like that.
“People will say ‘Patrice, when you talk like that, now you’re going to bring so much negativity’.
“But what do you want me to say? I can’t lie to people, especially our fans.
“I will never lie to any person who loves this club, because I think some people who work for this club – they’re damaging this club.
“That’s why we have to tell the truth to the fans.
“Before us, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, they made the history of the club – that’s why we try to respect it. The team in 1999, us in 2008, and some people just want to blow this legacy all away.
In a video posted on Instagram, the 39-year-old ex-France international contrasted United’s current approach, under chief executive Ed Woodward, with how the club was run when
David Gill was CEO and Alex Ferguson the manager.
“When United needed a player they (went) and they talk(ed) to them face-to-face,” Evra said.
“When Ferguson and David Gill came to meet me at Monaco it was worse than an interview from the CIA or FBI,” he said.
“But now my phone is ringing from a sporting director from (another) top football club and they say, ‘Patrice, can you please ask (contract negotiator) Matthew Judge to answer his phone’.
“People need to understand we send lawyers to talk to players. So when we send lawyers they talk about numbers they are not people from the football world,” added Evra, who played for United from 2006 to 2014.
“We don’t have any (signings) because we send the wrong people to speak with them,” Evra said, contrasting United’s approach with how other clubs, such as Real Madrid tackle recruitment.
“They send people who know the club, who love the club to talk about the club, not some lawyers who only talk about money,” he said – Express Newspapers/Reuters