Patrice Evra still hurt by United’s decision to overlook Antonio Conte

Patrice Evra won five Premier League titles during his time at Manchester United – as well as the Champions League and League Cup – under Sir Alex Ferguson. He admits he still feel “hurt” seeing another one of his former managers, Antonio Conte, have a positive impact at Tottenham Hotspur.

Having played under Conte at Juventus, Evra believes he is on course to turn Spurs into a Premier League superpower – which is some statement given that would take winning multiple Premier Leagues. Liverpool can’t even be considered a powerhouse with one title in 30 years.

“It hurts my heart,” Evra told The Mirror“Because I think Conte, Klopp, Guardiola – all those managers are the best in the world right now and we could have had him at Manchester United.

“But some people at the club, they said: ‘It’s not our style, it’s not what we’re looking for.’

“So let’s see, now we have Erik ten Hag. Let’s see what he’s going to do. He has my support. But then, even if you brought a chef in, as the manager of Man United, he’d have my full support.”

Conte was snubbed by United last November when the club decided to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. I could see why as the Italian doesn’t fit the profile you want as a United manager – unless the only thing you look at is trophies.

Furthermore, I don’t think he would see eye-to-eye with the Glazers or the puppets they have running the club.

All that said, United opted to appoint Ralf Rangnick as interim manager back in December and that turned out to be a disaster.

Evra adds that he thinks Conte could have done something at United.

“It is a massive disappointment because he could have done something at Man United.

“And you can see with Tottenham, he helped them to qualify for the Champions League spot.

“They have the same players, so that’s why this manager is a genius. When I arrived at Juventus, every player told me: ‘Patrice, this guy is a genius.

“He’s addicted, he’s so passionate about football. So you’re going to run really hard. He’s going to make you sweat. But if you look at the Tottenham fans, they are so happy because when they see the players now, win or they lose, they give everything. That’s the mentality of Antonio Conte.

“That’s why I say it hurts. Not because it’s Tottenham – I love every team – but it’s just because Conte could have done something.”

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