Jonny Evans back training with Manchester United

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 15 Jul 2023 16:13 BST
• 3 min read

Jonny Evans is training with first club Manchester United following the conclusion of his contract with relegated Leicester.

Evans is a United academy graduate who won three Premier Leagues and a Champions League with the Red Devils before leaving for West Brom in 2015, and was most recently with Leicester.

The Northern Irishman captained the Foxes after Kasper Schmeichel's departure to Nice last season, but he was powerless to keep them up, and the 30 June expiry date has since passed on his contract without a renewal.

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He has now returned to first-team training with Man Utd, with speculation growing that they might be tempted to re-sign him.

"It's understood Evans has spent time training with both the academy and the first-team group and sources have indicated it has benefited both parties, with the player using the facilities 'while lending his quality and experience' at Carrington," report the Manchester Evening News.

Deep connection

"Evans still lives locally and his wife, Helen Evans, works for the club's in-house broadcaster MUTV as a presenter."

READ: £80m Maguire is worse than Evans

Evans may now be 35 but he still averaged two interceptions and four clearances from his 13 Premier League games last season, and United could have use for a spare centre-back.

Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane are Erik ten Hag's undoubted first-choice pairing, but injuries to both meant that Luke Shaw, a left-back by trade, was used out of position at times last season with Ten Hag not trusting current club captain Harry Maguire.

Evans wouldn't be the first United legend to return for a second stint at the club, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes having done likewise in recent seasons, with differing levels of success.

Should United elect against offering Evans a deal, Everton and Celtic have been credited with an interest in his services, while he left Leicester on good terms.