West Brom star Chris Brunt believes Jonny Evans’ career at Manchester United ended because he was made a scapegoat.
The 31-year-old centre-back is being seen in a new light in an exciting Leicester City side, with questions being raised at Manchester United’s decision to sell him in 2015.
Louis van Gaal was not an admirer of the Northern Ireland international and he was jettisoned out of Old Trafford after West Brom offered Manchester United a fee of around £5m.
Evans resurrected his career at the Hawthorns and even had offers to join Arsenal and Manchester City before he eventually left for Leicester last year after the Foxes triggered his £3.5m relegation release clause.
Brunt, who played alongside Evans at West Brom, believes the Northern Irishman became a victim of his team’s failings at Manchester United and was made a scapegoat at Old Trafford.
He also feels West Brom lost him for little to no money to Leicester after rejecting big-money offers from Arsenal and Manchester City.
“Football is all about timing sometimes”, Brunt told The Athletic.
“We [West Brom] got in just at a time when his stock wasn’t so high at United and I think he was made a scapegoat at United for a few things that were going wrong at that time.
“In the long run, when he had Manchester City and Arsenal being linked with him heavily in a couple of transfer windows, [and] us losing him for a nominal fee to Leicester.
“We can say we had a bargain when we signed him but it wasn’t a bargain for us when we sold him, based on us going down.”
Barring a substitute appearance in the second round of the EFL Cup, Evans has played each minute of Leicester City’s season thus far.
