26 January 2017
Juventus Football Club can today confirm the depature of Patrice Evra, the French full-back joining Olympique Marseille after two-and-a-half years of magnificent service in Turin.
Evra arrived at Juventus in the summer of 2014 with the strongest of title-winning track records from his previous eight and a half seasons at Manchester United and he leaves Turin with an even more impressive CV, having played his part in two Scudetto triumphs, two Coppa Italia crowns and last year’s Italian Super Cup victory.
Signed for his big-match experience, the 35-year-old has been an ever-present in the Bianconeri’s Champions League line-ups over the last two and a half years, making 22 appearances for Juve in Europe’s premier club competition and playing the entirety of his side’s breath-taking run in the 2014/15 knockout stages, except for injury time in the final against Barcelona.
This season, Evra has started every single one of Juventus’ six Group H games, as they went on to qualify for the last 16 round in first place. Meanwhile in Serie A, the Frenchman has enjoyed some special moments too, scoring in consecutive home matches against Sampdoria as well as last term’s away win at Empoli.
His willingness to drive forward into the opposition third has seen him provide seven assists (five in the league, one in the Champions League and another in the Coppa Italia). At the same time, he has never neglected his defensive responsibilities, duly making 114 tackles, 122 interceptions and winning the ball back 301 times over the course of his 82 outings in all competitions.
It was not merely on the pitch that Evra made his mark for the Bianconeri, but undoubtedly in the dressing room too, his bubbly, larger than life personality rubbing off positively on his peers, whilst he also showed genuine leadership qualities and a more serious side when the time was right.
It comes as no coincidence that it was Patrice, alongside captain Gianluigi Buffon, who led the rallying cries to the rest of the team after full-time of last season’s chastening away defeat to Sassuolo – a result which would immediately trigger the champions’ unstoppable surge to a history-making fifth successive Scudetto title.
With Uncle Pat around, as he is affectionately known, there’s been no lack of light-hearted humour, his jokes and authentic imitations of team-mates in the J|Challenge bringing smiles to the faces of supporters and everyone associated with the club.
Evra would be the first to admit, however, that comedy should never come at the cost of victory. Indeed, our number 33 departs Juventus with his status as natural-born winner even further enhanced.
Merci, Patrice
