PATRICE EVRA

03. PATRICE EVRA

• Born: 15 May 1981, Dakar, Senegal
• Signed: 10 Jan 2006 (fr. Monaco)
• Transfer Fee: Undisclosed
• Other Former Clubs: Monza, Nice
• Debut: To Be Confirmed
• International: France

After facing fierce competition from, amongst others, Inter Milan, United finally secured the services of French full-back Patrice Evra in January 2006.

Signing at the club just days after the capture of Nemanja Vidic, Evra's arrival signalled Sir Alex's intention to shore up a United defence that had suffered greatly since the sidelining of 2005's Player of the Year, Gabriel Heinze.

Although only 24 when he joined the Red Devils, Evra had already been capped five times for France and was club captain at Monaco, where he had established himself as a committed, attack-minded player.

Like many of Sir Alex's signings, Evra is young, versatile and ambitious. Comfortable at both left-sided midfield and left full-back, the Frenchman is known for his veracity and pace and has even been likened to ex-United flankman Jesper Blomqvist.

Having started his career at lowly French outfit Monza, Evra was quickly snapped up by Nice in January 2000, aged just 18. Two successful seasons later, the Senegalese-born defender unsurprisingly found himself a target of both Paris St Germain and Monaco, for whom he eventually signed.

Upon signing for United, Evra revealed that he had snubbed both Arsenal and Liverpool for the chance to walk out at the Theatre of Dreams.

"Liverpool and Arsenal are great clubs but United is a completely different story. Inter were also trying to get me in the transfer window but there was only one club for me".