‘It’s hard to see’

Jonny Evans has spoken of his sadness at seeing so many Manchester United staff at risk of losing their jobs.

Around 250 staff, including several trainers at the academy, will be made redundant in the coming weeks as part of a major cost-cutting drive under new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Evans says the news was “hard and difficult” to swallow and has cast something of a shadow over the club’s pre-season tour of the USA.

The United defender has been associated with the club for almost 30 years and has developed close relationships with a number of staff members over that time.

Evans’ wife Helen has worked at United’s official television station MUTV for the past 14 years and his father Jackie was a former academy coach at the club.

His younger brother Corry also spent several years in United’s academy before joining Hull City in 2011.

Evans was not passing judgement on the difficult decisions being made by Ratcliffe and the new hierarchy at Old Trafford, but admitted the prospect of job cuts “has not been easy for everyone”.

“I think they have an idea of ​​what they want the structure to be like, but as someone who has been at the club for a long time — (although) I was away for a while — a lot of people have lost their jobs in the last few weeks and it’s been tough and trying to see that,” said Evans, 36, who signed a one-year contract extension this month.

“The new owners feel like this is the direction they want to go in. But, you know, it hasn’t been easy for everyone at the same time.

“I mean, there are people you’ve known for 20 years and I think the moment of that happened when we went on tour. So we were all in the dark a little bit and I’m sure it will all work itself out, things will be a little bit clearer when we get back.

“But it’s been a tough thing to see – people I’ve known for a long, long time. One thing about working at a club like Man United, you’re fully involved and everyone has always been fully involved, it’s a massive team. But I think that’s just the culture of the club.

“For a club of such a large size and with such a high turnover of staff, you have family members working there. The people (who work there) are married and my wife has been working at the club, my brother has been at the club, my father has been at the club.

So there was always that feeling of people giving everything they had for the club and that’s a huge credit to them. That’s just because they love the place so much.”

Evans – who joined United as a youngster before leaving in 2015 and returning last summer – says players have always had strong connections with the team and that is no different now.

“I think that’s always been the beauty of the club,” he said. “We’ve always had that connection with our staff. I think the fact that the club is built on the academy also plays a big part in that because (a lot of) the players have been there for a long time, from a very young age, and they’ve always kind of defined the culture.

“And the staff that have been there all along, and they have promoted them through the club. People that have worked in the ticket office have come through departments. So I think that’s been the nature of the culture, how it’s always been built and it’s a big advantage for the club. We want to maintain that as much as possible.”

Asked if players were discussing the impending changes, Evans added: “Yes, of course. Certain members of the staff who are here are friends, people they have worked with, long-time colleagues and I’m sure they will feel it. There’s no doubt about that.”

Evans says the new hierarchy Ratcliffe has been putting together has been very welcoming, but he hopes all the turmoil will calm down.

“They’ve been very approachable and always trying to talk, and I’m sure they want to connect with the players as well,” he said.

“There’s a bit of a buzz around the club at the moment and they’re still getting their foot in the door… I’m sure they want to put their own protocols in place and ways of doing things. So there’s still a lot of things to be sorted out.

“I’m sure they’re excited for the season to start, but also eager to have their own way of working.”