Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United made major transfer error with defender as EFL man 'scouted'
Rio Ferdinand spoke on his discontent when a Manchester United player left the club.
Manchester United fans will have to wait until October 19 until they can watch their team play again, due to the ongoing international break. The Red Devils drew 0-0 at Aston Villa last time out, a few days on from drawing 3-3 at Porto in the Europa League thanks to Harry Maguire’s late goal.
A United legend has said that a member of the squad should not have been sold back in 2015, branding him their ‘best defender’ when he left the club - additionally, both the Red Devils and Arsenal are thought to be ‘scouting’ a coveted young goalkeeper who currently plays in League One.
Rio Ferdinand says Jonny Evans should not have left Manchester United in 2015
In 2015, after 11 years with the club, United sold Jonny Evans to West Bromwich Albion for an undisclosed fee - many felt it was the wrong decision at the time, including Red Devils legend Rio Ferdinand. Ferdinand believes that Evans should have had ‘another 12 years’ at Old Trafford, expressing incredulity at the decision to let him leave the club. Furthermore, upon his departure, the former Leeds United centre back believed that Evans was United’s ‘best defender’ at the time.
Evans is, of course, back at Manchester United in 2024 and still finds himself in the starting XI from time to time, ahead of globally recognised superstars like Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire.
Speaking on his official YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: “[Evans] should have had another 12 years at Manchester United. As soon as they sold him I said, ‘wow, who’s sanctioned this? How can you let him go?’ He’s arguably your best defender there. He was experienced as well, he had more experience than Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. You can’t let him go.
“He understands the fabric of the club. If you want to keep a culture at a club you need players who understand it and have been there. He’s one of them. They could have built around him. Look at the amount of partnerships they’ve tried to create and the amount of centre halves they’ve bought since him.”
Manchester United and Arsenal monitoring Wigan Athletic goalkeeper Sam Tickle
Manchester United and Arsenal are ‘scouting’ Wigan Athletic goalkeeper Sam Tickle, as they both look to add depth to their options between the sticks. Not only is Tickle only 22 years of age, he is also English-born, which will give teams extra room to fulfil their homegrown quotas.
This is according to a recent report from TEAMtalk. Tickle is the Latics’ first choice goalkeeper, having played in all of their League One games thus far this season. As things stand, the Warrington native has conceded just five goals over the course of 10 league appearances, keeping an impressive seven clean sheets along the way.
However, Wigan are under no pressure to sell the player - he is under contract at the Brick Community Stadium until the summer of 2028. It is unclear how much United or Arsenal will need to pay Wigan in order for them to part ways with Tickle.