Jonny Evans sealed a remarkable return to Manchester United last year, having originally left the club in 2015 after being deemed surplus to requirements by Louis van Gaal, manager at the time.
Evans left to join West Bromwich Albion but would establish himself as one of the Premier League’s most reliable defenders years later when he joined Leicester City.
Evans was part of the Leicester squad right up until their relegation from the Premier League last year when he became a free agent and that’s when Erik ten Hag swooped in and brought him back to Old Trafford.
Since then, Evans has been a useful squad player for the manager and has not looked out of place at all, justifying the move to bring him back on a 12-month contract.
Speaking recently, the Northern Ireland international has opened up on supporting the club as a young boy and detailed exactly when he became a fan for real.
“I suppose for me, my earliest memories of supporting United were around ’99,” the defender told the Manchester United podcast, as per the club’s official website.
“And maybe a bit before that, like ’96. But when I really got engrossed was that ’99 season when everything kind of took off.
“[I was] 10 [or] 11. I went down to my auntie’s house to watch the match [The 1999 Champions League final] and my dad was at the pub with his mates watching the game. I can remember as soon as the final whistle went, everyone is on the street kicking the ball pretending to be this player or that player.
“I remember my dad came and woke me up in the middle of the night.
“He had obviously had a few drinks and he was like ‘is that not the best night of your life?’ I always remember him saying that. And it was, at that time. Being a Manchester United fan and witnessing that.”
A detail that is overlooked or perhaps forgotten by many is that Evans was part of the squad that won the Champions League in 2008 – United’s most recent win in the storied European tournament.
