On this day in 2006: Manchester United signed France defender Patrice Evra

Patrice Evra launched a hugely-successful spell with Manchester United by arriving at Old Trafford on this day in 2006.

United paid Monaco £5.5million for the then 24-year-old full-back as manager Sir Alex Ferguson looked to strengthen his resources after Gabriel Heinze had suffered a cruciate ligament injury.

France international Evra won five Premier League titles during an eight-and-a-half-year stay with the Red Devils, in addition to three League Cups and both the Champions League and Club World Cup in 2008.

Ferguson said at the time: “Patrice is a good age and is still developing as a player, which is always exciting.

“We have been monitoring him all season and it is fantastic that he is joining Manchester United.”

Evra made his debut in a 3-1 derby defeat at Manchester City four days after signing and went on to make a total of 379 appearances for the club.

With Luke Shaw having arrived in a big-money move from Southampton, Evra departed for Juventus in July 2014 amid claims of broken promises.

The defender believed he had a gentlemen’s agreement with chief executive Ed Woodward that he could leave the club for family reasons, only for United to announce they had taken up a one-year option on his contract.

He said: “I called Ed and swore on the phone, even threatened him. He said I couldn’t talk to the director of football like that and that he was going to fine me.”

Evra went on to win two Serie A titles in two and a half seasons in Italy and had brief spells with Marseille and West Ham before calling time on a career, which also brought 81 international caps, in 2018.