Man United to Offer Jonny Evans One-Year Contract

Manchester United are reportedly planning to offer veteran defender Jonny Evans a 1-year contract extension for the upcoming Premier League season, after he recently returned to the club on a short-term deal.

The Northern Irishman secured a surprise Old Trafford reunion as a free agent following his departure from the relegated Leicester City at the end of last season.

Evans had originally left United in 2015 after emerging from their youth academy and winning 3 Premier League titles plus the Champions League under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Current manager Erik ten Hag gave the 35-year-old a lifeline by signing him for preseason. After training at Carrington and featuring in a friendly against Lyon and on United’s America tour, Ten Hag now seeks to reward Evans with a permanent 1-year deal, according to the Belfast Telegraph.

He provides valuable Premier League experience to a United defense that was often porous last term, leaving them short on cover when Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez were absent.

Luke Shaw was regularly used as an emergency center-back over the out-of-favor Harry Maguire.

Ten Hag has apparently been impressed with Evans’ leadership and believes he suits United’s new style of building attacks from the back, as shown by their signing of keeper Andre Onana.

However, Evans was part of the recent defeat to Borussia Dortmund that provoked strong criticism from Ten Hag.

If finalized, Evans’ extension could also facilitate other departures like Maguire, linked to West Ham after a rejected bid, plus Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof.

In his career so far, Evans has made 356 Premier League appearances for United, Sunderland, West Brom and Leicester.