Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand (Picture: Getty)

Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United should never have sold Jonny Evans and claims he was the ‘best defender’ at the club when he left.

Evans spent almost a decade at United during his first spell at the club, making 198 appearances and helping the Red Devils win three Premier League titles.

The Northern Ireland international fell out of favour under ex-Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal and was sold to West Brom for just £8m in 2015.

Centre-back has been a problematic position for United in the intervening period, leading the club to re-sign Evans at the age of 35 in the summer of 2023.

Evans enjoyed a five-year spell at Leicester City before returning to the Theatre of Dreams and making 30 appearances in all competitions last season.
The veteran has featured regularly this term, too, and produced a Man of the Match performance in Sunday’s goalless draw with Aston Villa.

Ferdinand believes this was further proof that Evans should never have been sold and says he was a player the club could have built around rather than offloading for a small fee.

Jonny Evans returned to Old Trafford in the summer of 2023 (Picture: Getty)

?He should have had another 12 years at Manchester United,’ Ferdinand said of Evans on his YouTube channel.

‘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 w...