Patrice Evra Hints at Personal Reason for Not Signing New Manchester United Deal

Manchester United full-back Patrice Evra has hinted he may not be ready to sign a new contract at Old Trafford next summer, with a "personal" issue preventing him signing a new deal at the club.

Evra, 32, is out of contract at the end of the campaign, and Sport Witness' Tom Coast reports that France's Le10 Sport revealed last week that Evra would look to leave United on a free transfer next summer.

Following those reports, Evra was asked about his future by the Telefoot television programme, with Coast reporting the following reply from the defender regarding worries over a new contract:

"

It's personal. It's not Manchester [United] that don't want me to sign a new contract. This whole thing is personal. Manchester United's dream is that I finish my career there, but this is something personal.

"

Speculation in the Le10 Sport article linked Evra with a return to France with either PSG or Monaco, both of whom would hold special attraction for the Senegal-born player.

The full-back grew up in and around the Paris area, with PSG his first professional club—although he never appeared at first-team level.

It was in a four-year spell at Monaco, meanwhile, that he first came to wider prominence, helping the club to the 2003-04 Champions League final.

The article, per Coast, also suggests that his thinking is influenced by the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson from Old Trafford at the end of last season.

For new manager David Moyes, Evra's departure would not be the major blow that it might have been.

The Scot has already shown ambition to sign a new left-back, making offers for Everton's Leighton Baines this summer, per The Guardian's Jamie Jackson. Stuart Mathieson of the Manchester Evening News, meanwhile, suggests that Southampton youngster Luke Shaw is another left-back on the club's radar.

While United may have preferred to have made money on Evra's sale this summer, had they secured a left-back target, they will not begrudge the France international walking away should he choose to do so.

Since joining the Red Devils in 2006, he has consistently been one of the best left-backs in European football and, following a brief slump in 2011-12, recovered to play a major role in United's title success last season.

Whether Evra decides to move on or not next summer, it may well be that the club decide he has run his course in Manchester.

Moyes' determination to secure other targets suggests he is already thinking that way and, should Evra also be keen on moving on, a clean split could be on the cards after what will have been eight highly successful years at the club.