Patrice Evra: Ronaldo told me that he was coming to Manchester United

The retired French international left the Red Devils in 2014.

Former Manchester United captain Patrice Evra has disclosed that Sir Alex Ferguson was all set to recruit the duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale back in 2013. Speaking in the UTD Podcast, Evra also put light upon the time when Ferguson had announced retirement from his managerial career.

He went on to claim that it was one of the hardest moments in his United career. The Frenchman observed, “Two weeks before that, I remember there was a lot of media saying Ferguson will maybe retire next year, and he said, 'Patrice, I will never retire. I will be here another 10 years’.”

Sir Alex Ferguson had stepped down from his duties after securing the 20th English Championship for United in the 2012-13 season. However, it is the information that Evra went on to unfold later on that is grabbing the eyeballs. Talking about Ferguson’s transfer ambitions, Evra remarked, “He (Sir Alex Ferguson) then said: 'My target is I'm 99 per cent sure we will have Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. I just need these two players to win the Champions League again. Ninety-nine per cent.”

Rumours about Ronaldo’s potential return to Manchester United have regularly circulated post his departure to Real Madrid in 2009. However, Patrice Evra added another interesting bit of information over here. He mentioned, “And to be fair, when I speak with Cristiano, I ask him and he said yes to the boss, and was coming to join United. He told me this.”

Patrice Evra and Sir Alex Ferguson apparently shared a very cordial and jovial player-manager relationship between them during their time together at United. However, the 38-year-old even reasserted that Ferguson’s retirement did not hamper his commitment towards the club.

Evra affirmed, “My wife said, ‘What's happened?’ I said: ‘Ferguson has retired.’ She said: ‘Oh, best news! Now I know next year we're leaving!’ I said ‘I’m not playing for Ferguson. I'm playing for the club. I’m playing for the badge, for the fans, and playing for the boss and my team-mates, so this won't be the reason why I will leave Manchester United.’”

While Ronaldo and Bale never joined United thereafter, they shared a fruitful partnership with each other at Real Madrid. In fact, their contributions were critical for the Los Blancos’ three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles from 2015-2018.

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