Patrice Evra has joined Marseille on a free transfer from Juventus.
The 35-year-old former Manchester United full-back has signed an 18-month contract with the Ligue 1 club after being released from the last six months of his Juve deal.
Evra, who has 81 caps for France, has played only three times for the Italian club this season.
He returns to the French league after 11 years away, having played for Monaco from 2002-2006 before joining United.
“I know Evra well from the French team,” said Marseille midfielder Remy Cabella. “He’s a captain who binds the group together and talks a lot. He’s a great player.”
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri had nothing but praise for Evra.
“He had a great two and a half seasons with us,” he said. “He’s a great champion, a great professional and I’m sorry he’s left.
“But we talked and we came to this decision. I have only positive things to say about Evra.
“He played for 10 years at Manchester United, he came to Juventus and was a very important player for us.”
Evra has featured in five Champions League finals, winning with United in 2008.
He is also a five-time Premier League winner and had two championship medals with Juventus in Serie A.
Born in Senegal but raised in France, Evra began his football career playing for various clubs in the Île-de-France region such as hometown club CO Les Ulis and CSF Brétigny.
In 1997, he had a stint at professional club Paris Saint-Germain.
A year later, Evra seized his first footballing opportunity in neighbouring Italy when he signed his first professional contract with Marsala in Sicily.
He made his professional debut with the club and, in the ensuing season, joined Monza.
After a year playing with Monza, Evra returned to France to play for Nice.
Originally a midfielder, while playing at Nice, he was converted into a full-back.
In 2002, Evra moved to AS Monaco and contributed to the team that won the Coupe de la Ligue in 2003.
He also featured in European competition for the first time in his career and, in the 2003–04 season, was the starting left-back on the Monaco team that reached the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final.
In that same season domestically, Evra was named the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year.
He was also named to the organisation’s Ligue 1 Team of the Year.
His performances with Monaco culminated into a move to English club Manchester United in January 2006.
While playing for Manchester United, Evra won a slew of trophies, which included winning the Football League Cup in his debut season at the club.
In his second season, he eclipsed compatriot Mikaël Silvestre and Gabriel Heinze as first-choice left-back and has since won five Premier League titles, one UEFA Champions League title, one FIFA Club World Cup, three League Cups, and four Community Shield titles.
He has been named to the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Team of the Year on three occasions.
For his performances during the 2008–09 season, he was named to both the FIFPro World XI and the UEFA Team of the Year.
After joining Italian side Juventus in 2014, he immediately helped the club to a domestic double and the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final, and won a second domestic double and the Supercoppa Italiana the following season.
Evra is also a France international. Prior to playing at senior level, he played at under-21 level.
He made his senior international debut in August 2004 in a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Evra has participated in five major international tournaments for France; the 2008, 2012 and 2016 editions of the UEFA European Football Championship, winning a runners-up medal at Euro 2016, and both the 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Ahead of the 2010 World Cup, Evra was named captain of the national team by Domenech and bore the armband for the first time in the team’s friendly match against Costa Rica in May 2010.
