Patrice Evra launches emotional attack on way 'arrogant' Manchester United are run

Patrice Evra has launched a scathing attack on Manchester United’s “uncontactable” transfer negotiator, accused executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward of being too trusting and claimed there are people working at Old Trafford who are “damaging the club”.

In an uncompromising, 20-minute monologue posted on Instagram, the former United and France defender raised fears that Sir Alex Ferguson’s legacy was being “blown away”.

Evra’s plea for the club to stop being “arrogant” came less than 48 hours after a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace in their opening game of the new Premier League season underlined the urgent need for quality reinforcements before the close of the transfer window in a fortnight.

United are in talks about signing Brazil left-back Alex Telles from Porto for around £20 million in the hope that he will become their second signing of the window after Holland midfielder Donny van de Beek, a £34.8m recruit from Ajax earlier this month.

But they have so far balked at Borussia Dortmund’s £108m valuation of England winger Jadon Sancho and have not signed a centre-half, despite Palace being the latest side to expose their problems in that position.

Evra believes United - who face Luton Town in the Carabao Cup third round at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night - need to completely rethink their approach to signing players and singled out head of corporate development Matt Judge, who is responsible for negotiating transfers and contacts, for criticism.

Evra claimed the sporting director of one leading club contacted him once to ask if he could relay a message to Judge, a former investment banker, to start answering his phone and believes United are losing out on players because they dispatch lawyers, not football people, to talk to would-be targets.

“When Manchester United needed a player [under Ferguson and David Gill] they go and they talk to them face-to-face,” Evra said. “When Ferguson and David Gill came to meet me at Monaco it was worse than an interview from the CIA or FBI!

“But now my phone is ringing from a sporting director from a top football club and they say, ‘Patrice, can you please ask Matthew Judge to answer his phone’. People need to understand we [United] send lawyers to talk to players. So when we send lawyers they talk about numbers - they are not people from the football world.”

It is not uncommon to hear agents and technical directors at rival clubs complaining about the poor lines of communication Evra cites. United’s recruitment has invited severe criticism for years and many of their transfer pursuits - from Harry Maguire to Bruno Fernandes and now Sancho - have become drawn-out sagas.

Yet United have so far resisted the appointment of a director of football and, while it remains possible in time that a technical director could be brought in, the expectation is he would be asked to work within the existing collegiate set-up. Evra, however, believes his former club have it all wrong.

“We don’t have any player [signings] because we send the wrong people to speak with them,” Evra added. “I give you a massive example: Real Madrid, when the president needed to sign a player, Karim [Benzema] told me they’d come to his street, to his house, to see his mum. When Karim saw [Zinedine] Zidane coming off the plane they’d say, ‘Where’s the contract, I’ll sign straight away’, because they send people who know the club, who love the club to talk about the club, not some lawyers who only talk about money.”

Evra has enjoyed a close relationship in the past with Woodward but believes United’s executive vice-chairman - whom the Glazer family have empowered to run the club - is too trusting. “We are blaming him a lot,” Evra said. “The only problem I would say to Ed is trusting people he should never trust. He even trusts some people from outside the club [that he shouldn’t].”

Evra says he worries about some of the people United have working for them. “Let’s be less arrogant, even some people from the club they don’t respect Sir Alex Ferguson. Don’t destroy your legacy,” he said.

“Before us, Bobby Charlton, George Best, all those people they make the history of the club and we try to respect it - '99 and us '08. Just some people they want to blow all this legacy away. For what? Business? Come on, we are better than that.

“Maybe one day I will work for this club again but I will work with my loyalty and I will never lie to any person who loves this club. Because I think some people who work for this club are damaging this club.”