Patrice Evra career playing for various clubs in the Île-de-France region such as hometown club CO Les Ulis and CSF Brétigny. In 1997, he had a stint at professional club Paris Saint-Germain. A year later, Evra seized his first footballing opportunity in neighbouring Italy when he signed his first professional contract with Marsala in Sicily. He made his professional debut with the club and, in the ensuing season, joined Monza. After a year playing with Monza, Evra returned to France to play for Nice. Originally a midfielder, while playing at Nice, he was converted into a full-back. In 2002, Evra joined Monaco
Patrice Evra from injury and, due to Domenech preferring Mikaël Silvestre as the incumbent's back-up, Evra went without a call-up for almost two years and, consequently, missed the 2006 World Cup. In October 2007, the defender explained to "L'Équipe" that the World Cup snub "gave me my determination". Evra returned to the team in November 2006 for the team's friendly match against Greece. He appeared as a half-time substitute for Abidal as France won the match 1–0. After going another year without representing France, Evra began appearing as a regular under Domenech in 2007. On 28 May 2008, he was included in