Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has revealed that he is still playing at the age of 36 because he still has ’24 brothers and sisters to feed’.
Evra spent eight years at United between 2006 and 2014 and the Frenchman was back at Old Trafford on Sunday for the testimonial of Michael Carrick.
The 36-year-old, who currently plays for Ligue 1 side Marseille, was reunited with many of his former team-mates as a ‘Manchester United 2008 XI’ took on an All-Stars team to mark Carrick’s 11 years at the club.
Carrick recently signed a new deal to stay at Old Trafford for another year but Evra hopes the midfielder will follow in his footsteps and play for a while longer yet.
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‘I hope he will play for many years, he has to keep playing like me. I am still playing because I still have 24 brothers and sisters to feed so I can’t stop, I have to run,’ he told ITV.
‘Michael Carrick is still an important player for Manchester United and I remember this year always when he was playing the result was always positive.’
.@Evra: "It's just too much emotion, too much feeling to come back and see the gaffer, the stadium and the fans. It's amazing." #MUFC pic.twitter.com/6WNfCWCQ7I
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) June 4, 2017
Carrick scored in front on the Stretford End on Sunday as the midfielder celebrated his stay at Old Trafford with many of his former team-mates and stars of world football such as John Terry and Clarence Seedorf.
Evra lined up alongside the 35-year-old and the likes of Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic as Sir Alex Ferguson returned to manage a United side based on the Champions League-winning squad of 2008.
And speaking after the final whistle, Evra said he felt ‘too much emotion’ returning to to Old Trafford.
‘It’s just amazing, firstly thank you to Michael Carrick for inviting us all to his testimonial. But it’s just too much emotion, too much feeling to come back in the dressing room, to see the gaffer, the fans, the stadium,’ he said.
‘It’s just amazing so that’s why we should say thanks to God to have a happy moment like that. So I’m really happy and I say thank you to all the family of Michael Carrick.’
