Patrice Evra not very keen to go forward in the talks with Arsenal, Liverpool or Real Madrid. They all talked with my agent in the past two seasons. But to me, it was over. As I said to the Monaco officials, I only wanted to hear about Manchester." Evra initially had some problems adapting to the English game. He made his debut for the club on 14 January in a 3–1 away defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League. He was substituted out at half-time after failing to make an impact. After the conclusion of the match, Ferguson stated, "Maybe it
2011–12 Manchester United F.C. season later defeated Aston Villa 4–1 to go top of the Premier League, two points clear of United. The game was marred, however, by Luis Suárez racially abusing Patrice Evra. The next game was the Manchester derby, at Old Trafford, which saw the Manchester City go out as winners. United started dominating the game, but just the second time City came close to De Gea and Mario Balotelli neatly scored for the visit. United kept control of the game for the remainder of the first half, but could not capitalise on their chances. Later, two minutes into the second half, Jonny