Former Manchester United Defender Patrice Evra Announces Retirement

Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has announced his retirement after a 20-year professional career, confirming he intends to become a coach.

Evra, 38, last represented West Ham United in 2018, and the 81-times capped France international told Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Daniel Murphy of the Manchester Evening News):

"My playing career is officially over. I started training for the UEFA B Coaching Licence in 2013, now I want to finish it and then go on to get the UEFA A licence. In a year and a half, if everything goes well, I'll be ready to lead a team."

Evra took to Twitter on Monday and posted a video featuring some career highlights with a simple caption:

United signed Evra from AS Monaco in 2006, and he went on to make 379 appearances for the Red Devils over the course of an eight-year spell at Old Trafford.

It was under Sir Alex Ferguson that Evra accomplished his greatest career feats, including the 2008 UEFA Champions League final win over Chelsea and five Premier League winners' medals:

United paid tribute to their former star:

BT Sport remembered his strike against Bayern Munich in the 2013-14 Champions League, which was possibly the best goal of his career:

Juventus signed the player for a modest sum in 2014, and Evra went on to win back-to-back Serie A and Coppa Italia titles with the Italian powerhouse:

Evra had lesser roles at Marseille and West Ham in 2017 and 2018, respectively, although his spell with the former came to a sour end after he was sacked for kicking a fan.

He maintained his presence in the France squad until 2016 and made his last international appearance in a 2-1 win against Sweden during the qualification campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.