MISGUIDED reports linking veteran defender Jonny Evans with a reunion with Brendan Rodgers at Celtic have finally been put to bed.
The 35-year-old 102 times-capped Northern Ireland internal centre-back will NOT be joining his ex-Leicester City boss at the treble winners.
The speculation ended when Evans signed a short-term deal with his former club Manchester United after being released by the relegated Midlands club at the end of a disastrous campaign in which Rodgers was sacked in April.
The player had been keeping in shape at the Old Trafford side for whom he played 198 times before leaving for West Brom in 2015.
He joined the King Power outfit three years later before his contract wasn’t renewed last month.
UNDER PRESSURE…Kolo Toure in action in the 2-0 Champions League loss to Borussia Munchengladbach at Parkhead in October 2016.
CQN did not follow the tale as it appeared elsewhere. Rodgers did bring in his former Liverpool defender Kolo Toure in his first season at Parkhead in 2016/17.
The Ivorian was 35, the same age as Evans, and was up for grabs after being freed by the Anfield club.
The former Arsenal and Manchester City back-four operator helped the Hoops get past the Champions League hurdle of Hapoel Be’er Sheva when he partnered rookie Eoghan O’Connell in the 5-2 first leg win in Glasgow and then Mikael Lustig in Israel as Rodgers’ side scraped through 5-4 on aggregate.
However, Toure looked off the pace, notably the last-gasp 4-3 win over Motherwell at Fir Park in December and two months earlier the defender blundered badly to gift Borussia Munchengladbach both their goals in a 2-0 win at Parkhead.
It seemed unlikely Rodgers would repeat the move although it is believed he is in the market for another centre-back, despite Cameron Carter-Vickers, who underwent knee surgery just before the end of the campaign, reportedly making good progress in his push to be fit for the start of the competitive action.
BACKROOM BHOY…Kolo Toure joined Brendan Rodgers’ coaching staff when his one-year playing contract expired at Celtic.
Regarding Evans, United issued a statement which read: “Experienced defender Jonny Evans has signed a short-term deal to enable him to take part in Manchester United’s upcoming pre-season games in Edinburgh and San Diego.
“The Academy graduate had been training with the Under-21s whilst considering his options, following his departure from Leicester City at the end of last season.
“As part of the Academy training programme, he has also taken part in a number of first-team sessions and impressed Erik ten Hag and the coaching staff.”
It added: “Evans will travel to Edinburgh as part of the group to face Lyon on Wednesday.
“Jonny will then join up with the Academy group that will travel to San Diego, while the first-team squad are in New York.”
