Manchester United player profile - Patrice Evra

Patrice Evra, Manchester United and France footballer was born on 15 May 1981 in Dakar, Senegal. Patrice Evra's father was a diplomat and at the age of 6 years old his family moved to Les Ulis, Essonne, France. Patrice Evra was brought up in France and began his footballing career for Paris Saint Germain's youth side, however his first professional contract came when he signed for Sicilian side Marsala in 1998. Patrice Evra spent a year with Marsala making more than 20 appearances as a striker before moving to Italian Serie B side Monza. In his short time with Monza Patrice Evra made only 3 appearances before moving to French Ligue 2 club Nice in 2000. At Nice Patrice Evra initially played as a centre forward but was moved to left back as a result of injuries within the team, his performance in the defensive position led to him being named Ligue 2's best left back.

Patrice Evra shone as a defender and soon came to the attention of AS Monaco manager Didier Deschamps who signed him from Nice for an undisclosed fee in 2002. At AS Monaco Patrice Evra soon earned himself a regular place in the team and was part of the side that reached the 2004 Champions League Final which Monaco lost 3-0 to Porto. It was at this time that Patrice Evra's performances saw him called up to the French national squad. During the first half of the 05/06 season Patrice Evra often captained Monaco however the side struggled to maintain their form finding themselves in the lower half of Ligue 1 for most of the season, despite this Patrice Evra was still impressive and of interest to a number of bigger clubs.

Patrice Evra parted company with Monaco on 10 January 2006 when he signed for Manchester United for a fee of around £5.5 million, 4 days later he made his debut in United's 3-1 defeat by Manchester City. To begin with Patrice Evra struggled to adapt to the Premier League style of play and it was only midway through the following 06/07 season that he established himself as a regular in the Manchester United first team. Patrice Evra's first goal for the reds came on 29 November 2006 in a home match against Everton and by the end of the season he had won his first major trophy with the side as Manchester United took the Premier League title. The following 07/08 season saw Patrice Evra add to his winners medals tally when Manchester United won both the Premier League and the Champions League.