Evra: I nearly quit United
The Frenchman also admitted that, like Rooney, he came close to leaving Old Trafford last year and only a heartfelt intervention from coach Alex Ferguson stopped him quitting.
But it was Evra’s comments about Rooney and his own future that will surprise supporters who have formed a unique bond with the French man since he joined the club in 2006. As he remembered the events of last October, when Rooney rejected a new contract and publicly said he wanted to leave the club.
“I remember everyone was criticising Manchester United,” he said. “It was supposed to be the end of the Manchester United empire with Wayne Rooney, who wanted to leave. But I have to say in the dressing room, it didn’t really affect us that much in the end.
“We know Wayne and we know the man he is. He came in and spoke to us and said what he had to say, that will remain between us. It’s true that he apologised and you know maybe in the end that just brought us all together, because as I’ve always said, the star of this team is just that, the team.
“Wayne had his reasons, we all make errors, I’ve made my share, so what counts is he stayed, got his head down, worked hard and scored some really important goals for us.
“We quickly turned the page and the fans did too and who knows, maybe we needed that saga to bring us even closer together, to make us even more united, more compact and to help us search for a new league title. In the end that’s what we ended up doing so maybe we should all thank Wayne.”
Evra himself had also thought about quitting the club, though he changed his mind when he was summoned to Ferguson’s house.
“It was a privilege to see the manager outside of Carrington and Old Trafford,” Evra told Canal Plus. “Just like he did with Rooney, the manager found the right words.
“He said: ‘The right choice for you is to stay, this is a big club and you win things here every year. You are an essential part of this team, so I don’t see why you would want to leave.’ “That said, I respect your decision if it’s for your family and if you really decide to leave I’ll even give you a helping hand. But our wish is to keep you here.”
Meanwhile Ryan Giggs put his off-the-field troubles behind him as he took part in Gary Neville’s testimonial at Old Trafford last night, as a United side lost 2-1 to Juventus.
Giggs showed no obvious signs of worry, sending over the low cross converted by Wayne Rooney to put United ahead. Giggs, Rooney and Paul Scholes were all replaced after half an hour, ensuring their fitness for their weekend engagement.
For David Beckham, it was an emotional night as he pulled on the famous red jersey for the first time since he left for Real Madrid in 2003.
Michael Owen nodded one of the full-back’s trademark crosses over.
Owen also blazed over from a Bebe cross not long after Simone Pepe had equalised for Juve.
Anderson and Rafael were introduced after the break, when Beckham curled a trademark free-kick narrowly over from the edge of the area.
Neville’s night ended after 83 minutes to a well-deserved standing ovation. But by that time, Manuel Giandonato had curled home a superb winner for Juventus.
* ALEX FERGUSON last night confirmed Man United have agreed a deal to sign David De Gea from Atletico Madrid to replace the retiring Edwin van der Sar.
“We’ve been working on it for quite a while. We identified him quite a while back as one we should go for’’ Ferguson said.
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