After Raphael Varane suffered an injury, Manchester United is apparently planning to extend his one-year deal with veteran center-back Jonny Evans.

Varane suffered a new injury against Nottingham Forest last Saturday and is anticipated to be out for “a few weeks.”

Erik ten Hag is eager to add extra depth at centre defence because the France international has been injured frequently since joining Man Utd two years ago.

Harry Maguire, who has been linked with a transfer away from Old Trafford for much of the summer window, doesn’t seem to have swayed the manager.

When Man Utd plays Arsenal on Sunday, the center-back pairing of choice will probably be Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof. Due to the injuries to Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia, they also have a problem at left-back.

In light of this, Ten Hag’s decision to hire Evans for the season as an inexpensive way to upgrade his back line’s experience may have been a wise one.

Man Utd intends to extend Evans’ contract.
Evans joined Manchester United in July on a temporary basis; his agreement was scheduled to finish at the end of August. The impact the Northern Ireland international had on the team during preseason has already been praised by Ten Hag.

“I believe that he [Evans] assisted us, as you mentioned, [with] younger players as well as for numbers here. That was extremely helpful because not all of the international players were present, and we had to control the players’ workload, according to Ten Hag.

“Jonny still wants a job and to stay in shape. He had excellent play against Lyon [during the preseason], and it was clear that he was coaching and pushing the younger players to perform at a higher level, which can be very beneficial.

Today, Evans is ‘likely’ to receive a new contract from Manchester United that will keep him with the team through the end of the current campaign, the Mirror reported.

The seasoned 35-year-old started his professional career at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson’s leadership. Throughout his career, he has made more than 600 appearances for club and country.

In that time, Evans has won 11 awards, including three Premier League championships with Manchester United and the 2021 FA Cup with Leicester.

Ten Hag will be hoping that the center-back’s presence can aid Man Utd in winning another championship this year and assist in providing defence cover when players like Varane aren’t available.