Patrice Evra seemed to be set to sign for Juventus this summer before he pulled a U-turn and renewed his contract with Manchester United. The French defender seemed to be headed away from Old Trafford after eight years with speculation that he would be replaced by Luke Shaw from Southampton. Inter had been linked with Evra in January, but Juventus took the lead in the battle to swoop for him should he become a free agent. However, respected Italian football journalist Gianluca Di Marzios website contains an account of where a move to Juventus fell through. According to Di Marzio, Juventus had the chance to pounce before Evra and United agreed a renewal, but they delayed because they had to resolve the position of coach Antonio Conte. By the time Juventus came to Evra, it was too late and incoming manager Louis van Gaal had reportedly given the defender assurances about his future, so he renewed. Di Marzio also claims that a few days after Evra signed his renewal, Juventus attempted to persuade him to rescind his contract and join them on a two-year deal. However, Evra was reportedly unwilling to create any tension with Manchester United as he wanted to maintain a warm relationship with the club and so he refused. It had been suggested in Italy that when Juventus boss Conte decided to stay he rejected a move for Evra, believing him to be too old, but Di Marzios sequence of events seems to suggest the Old Lady simply waited too long.
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 17:15:05 +0000
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