Jonny Evans unsure on his future but hopes Erik ten Hag remains as Man Utd boss

Northern Ireland’s Jonny Evans before a training session at the Son Moix Stadium ahead of facing Spain on Saturday. (Photo by William Cherry/Presseye)

Evans is out of contract this summer after returning to United on a one-year deal last summer. He initially joined his boyhood club to maintain his fitness in pre-season, but went on to make 30 appearances including as a substitute in the FA Cup final victory over Manchester City.

The 36-year-old has had talks over a new deal, but said his focus was on Northern Ireland as they prepare for Saturday’s friendly against Spain in Mallorca and Tuesday’s fixture against Andorra.

“I don’t know,” Evans said when asked about his contract. “It’s still early days. The season has just finished and I think the day after the cup final I flew straight to Palma and spent a week here and then met up with the (Northern Ireland) squad in Murcia.

“Now we are back in Palma (to play Spain) so I’ve been on the go. I’ve wanted to just concentrate on these two games and meet up with the lads. Once I go back and everything settles down a bit I’m sure I’ll have more conversations with the club.”

Asked how much longer he wanted to play on for club and country, the 106-cap defender said: “I don’t know if the question is want. The answer to that is you want to play forever.

“Everyone who plays football, in the moment there’s nothing better. It’s more about how things transpire. So many things have to go into it, your fitness, your age becomes a part of it. But if I could answer that, you want to play on for the rest of your life.”

Ten Hag’s future remains up in the air despite the FA Cup success, with widespread speculation that the Dutchman will be sacked at the end of a season which saw United finish eighth in the Premier League.

Evans remains supportive of the man who brought him back to Old Trafford.

“I think he is a top-class manager,” Evans said. “The thing that keeps me going especially is learning about the game and I learnt an awful lot last season with different styles of playing the game and I learnt a lot of things from the manager Ten Hag so that was quite an eye opener for me.

“I feel like he has got some great ideas about the game of football.”

It was notable that Evans went out of his way to ensure Ten Hag had a moment to lift the FA Cup trophy during the celebrations at Wembley following their 2-1 win over City.

“I passed the trophy down to the manager because they were trying to get us off (the presentation area) to go and celebrate on the pitch,” Evans said. “I passed it to the guy beside me and I saw the manager further on and I didn’t want him to miss out on that moment.

“I felt like it was a big moment for him. I’m glad he got to lift it like that. The manager was great for me, brought me back in and showed a lot of faith in me so it was nice I suppose he was able to have that moment.”