Jonny Evans set to sign a one year contract

Howl

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Reported today that we are unlikely to be signing him and he is getting offers from other clubs.
I'd be surprised if he doesn't sign for us if we offered him a contract. He's 35 years old so it's not exactly like he's going to be signing for other teams as a starting XI player, so why not join the club he was at during his time in the youth. Especially since he will get game time here.
 

acnumber9

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Erik prefers right footed players on the right and left on the left.
Evans is as left footed as Harry is so do not be surprised to see him cover for Varane
Evans has a much better left foot than Maguire does. Better right foot too.
 

Gandalf

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I'd be surprised if he doesn't sign for us if we offered him a contract. He's 35 years old so it's not exactly like he's going to be signing for other teams as a starting XI player, so why not join the club he was at during his time in the youth. Especially since he will get game time here.
We have not offered a contract and the implication was that we were not currently planning to do so. Not much of a surprise as it seems clear we are going to be signing someone as an upgrade on Maguire once that move occurs so there is no need for Evans beyond sentimentality and that is really not a trait Erik has demonstrated so far.
 

Howl

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We have not offered a contract and the implication was that we were not currently planning to do so. Not much of a surprise as it seems clear we are going to be signing someone as an upgrade on Maguire once that move occurs so there is no need for Evans beyond sentimentality and that is really not a trait Erik has demonstrated so far.
I thought there were reports that we were offering him a contract. I think it would be unfortunate not to. He's a better player than Lindelof in my opinion especially since he's on a free.
 

Gandalf

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I thought there were reports that we were offering him a contract. I think it would be unfortunate not to. He's a better player than Lindelof in my opinion especially since he's on a free.
It was a single report from the Belfast Telegraph, no idea if they are reliable as a source but never heard of them, it was also rubbished straight away by the likes of Fabrizio.

It is arguable if he was as good as Lindelof when he was at his peak but now he is 35 that is just a laughable statement, if you watched him in pre season he was painfully slow and heavy legged and beaten quite easily in the air. In his last appearance against Bilbao on Sunday he looked like a competition winner when he got on the pitch and had to resort to wrestling players to make up for the fact he could not keep up.
 

SalfordRed18

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It was a single report from the Belfast Telegraph, no idea if they are reliable as a source but never heard of them, it was also rubbished straight away by the likes of Fabrizio.

It is arguable if he was as good as Lindelof when he was at his peak but now he is 35 that is just a laughable statement, if you watched him in pre season he was painfully slow and heavy legged and beaten quite easily in the air. In his last appearance against Bilbao on Sunday he looked like a competition winner when he got on the pitch and had to resort to wrestling players to make up for the fact he could not keep up.
You got a link for that?
 

OverratedOpinion

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I still reckon we keep him around purely based on an idea I've made up in my head that this was for him to mostly be in in the reserves and do his badges before being hired as a coach.
 

Bondi77

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Posted this right after the BelfastTelegraph article and followed up on one of his live chats to say although it was not impossible it was not under discussion and definitely no contract offer made.

Why has he been given a squad number?
 

Gandalf

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Why has he been given a squad number?
That was for pre season. He is under contract for about 10 more days and as of yet has not been offered an extension. Not sure why people are finding these facts so hard to understand. It is not impossible that we sign him but honestly I don't get why people are so invested in this, if he signs we all need to pray he does not need to play as anybody with eyes could tell from preseason he is done at this level.
 

Bondi77

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That was for pre season. He is under contract for about 10 more days and as of yet has not been offered an extension. Not sure why people are finding these facts so hard to understand. It is not impossible that we sign him but honestly I don't get why people are so invested in this, if he signs we all need to pray he does not need to play as anybody with eyes could tell from preseason he is done at this level.
I didn't see any preseason but I read that Erik was happy with him so that is why I thought we were taking him for the season.
 

AndySmith1990

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Not surprised we're after Pavard and Evans isn't the replacement for Maguire. What club with ambitions of winning major trophies would sign a 35 year old Jonny Evans as a 4th choice CB? If he hadn't played for us in the Fergie days no one would think it was a good idea to sign him
 

Bondi77

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Not surprised we're after Pavard and Evans isn't the replacement for Maguire. What club with ambitions of winning major trophies would sign a 35 year old Jonny Evans as a 4th choice CB? If he hadn't played for us in the Fergie days no one would think it was a good idea to sign him
I have only seen him as a RB but I reckon if we got him he would get plenty of time in the central position based on Varane's record over the last two seasons
 

strandty

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Not sure if mentioned but this is on the official squad list on the website
 

Robertd0803

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Love to see him out there for some reason, blast from a better past maybe?

Always felt his red in the 1-6 that ultimately cost us the derby and the league in 2011-12 was harsh as feck.
That shit header from Rio that put him in that position to begin with still infuriates me.
 

Howl

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It was a single report from the Belfast Telegraph, no idea if they are reliable as a source but never heard of them, it was also rubbished straight away by the likes of Fabrizio.

It is arguable if he was as good as Lindelof when he was at his peak but now he is 35 that is just a laughable statement, if you watched him in pre season he was painfully slow and heavy legged and beaten quite easily in the air. In his last appearance against Bilbao on Sunday he looked like a competition winner when he got on the pitch and had to resort to wrestling players to make up for the fact he could not keep up.
I did watch him in preseason, I thought he was more composed on the ball than Lindelof whilst being more nimble than Maguire. Now I will admit, I missed the Wrexham and Lyon games so if he played in those (I believe he did against Wrexham) I have no idea how he did.
 

Gandalf

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It really does say "provisional" numbers.
We clearly are working on outgoings for some number switching.
Ex. Varane #5 and Højlund #17
Sure, but he had been given the number 27 in pre season and as was pointed out above that was showing on the website too. The fact he now has no number at all would suggest he is not in the teams plans otherwise they would have listed him provisionally like everyone else. It is fairly clear we are signing a genuine replacement for Maguire so what would Evans role be? I don't think we really need to replace Phil Jones but I suppose he is the closest to a permanently crocked, over the hill, veteran of the Ferguson era we can find.
 

wolvored

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If we want to expand and get better we shouldnt be signing over the hill players on sentimentality Surely we could promote a young prospect for 5th choice, or buy.
 

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Sure, but he had been given the number 27 in pre season and as was pointed out above that was showing on the website too. The fact he now has no number at all would suggest he is not in the teams plans otherwise they would have listed him provisionally like everyone else. It is fairly clear we are signing a genuine replacement for Maguire so what would Evans role be? I don't think we really need to replace Phil Jones but I suppose he is the closest to a permanently crocked, over the hill, veteran of the Ferguson era we can find.
Maybe Evans himself is considering his options, hence no number confirmed.
 

Gandalf

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Maybe Evans himself is considering his options, hence no number confirmed.
Well of course he is, his contract runs out in a few days. The reporting from everyone except the Belfast Telegraph has been consistent in saying that we have not offered him another deal and he himself is looking for a starting role somewhere.
 

dejans

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Well of course he is, his contract runs out in a few days. The reporting from everyone except the Belfast Telegraph has been consistent in saying that we have not offered him another deal and he himself is looking for a starting role somewhere.
Jap.
 

SAFMUTD

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Sure, but he had been given the number 27 in pre season and as was pointed out above that was showing on the website too. The fact he now has no number at all would suggest he is not in the teams plans otherwise they would have listed him provisionally like everyone else. It is fairly clear we are signing a genuine replacement for Maguire so what would Evans role be? I don't think we really need to replace Phil Jones but I suppose he is the closest to a permanently crocked, over the hill, veteran of the Ferguson era we can find.
We'll definitely sign Maguire's replacement but we've let go Jones and most probably Bailly as well. So we need a 5th CB. That role is pretty much like 3rd keeper role. Most likely won't play at all but needed in case there's an injury crisis.
 

cyril C

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Not surprised we're after Pavard and Evans isn't the replacement for Maguire. What club with ambitions of winning major trophies would sign a 35 year old Jonny Evans as a 4th choice CB? If he hadn't played for us in the Fergie days no one would think it was a good idea to sign him
Why anyone isn't the replacement for Maguire? Maguire is the 4th choice CB, better than Bailly so still has a shirt. With Pavard (hopefully yes) or not, Evans will simply be the 5th choice CB, who may be marginally better than Academy kids (whoever he is), and would be useful in bringing up kids for the coming season.
 

Woodzy

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So why are we offering him a 1-year contract? And why does ETH want him to stay?
Because he can provide cover in the event of a crisis. Evans is basically at the very end of his career, I’m sure a handful of games at his boyhood club to see out his career was pretty appealing to him, and in return we get a decent option if we ever find ourselves with as many defensive injuries as we did at the end of last season,

We have plenty to moan about atm, but unless this does actually end up being our intended Maguire replacement, then this signing probably isn’t one of them.
 

Red in STL

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Because he can provide cover in the event of a crisis. Evans is basically at the very end of his career, I’m sure a handful of games at his boyhood club to see out his career was pretty appealing to him, and in return we get a decent option if we ever find ourselves with as many defensive injuries as we did at the end of last season,

We have plenty to moan about atm, but unless this does actually end up being our intended Maguire replacement, then this signing probably isn’t one of them.
I think this is multi-faceted - Evans still wants to play a bit but he also probably wants to get in to coaching, EtH was apparently impressed with how he went about training with then youngsters so this maybe a part of the thinking