Manchester United's surprise transfer could be Erik ten Hag's dressing room wild card

For those of who enjoy a bet on Manchester United matches, the odds on the Reds' centre-back pairing that ended Sunday's defeat at Arsenal would have been very long indeed.

Such is United's current bad luck, with Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw already sidelined, the departures of Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof saw Erik ten Hag with no choice but to call on the services of a duo who'd last played together move than five years ago at Leicester. Not only that, one of them was already a veteran at the King Power Stadium even then.

The introduction of Jonny Evans alongside Harry Maguire was symptomatic of a chaotic time at Old Trafford. the Northern Irishman had been a fine servant for United under Sir Alex Ferguson and later the Foxes.

It came as a shock when Ten Hag signed Evans in pre-season, and perhaps even more of a surprise when he extended that deal for the whole of this season on deadline day.

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Ten Hag will have been grateful to have at least had a player of some experience on the bench when disaster struck at the Emirates, but the manager will have had more in mind than him being just an extra body when he asked Evans to sign on the dotted line.

The defender is fondly remembered for his first stint at United where he won three Premier League trophies, the Champions League, and two League cups. And since first leaving the club, being less favoured by Louis van Gaal, a lot has changed.

There have been six changes to the managerial position, with their being permanent, interim, and caretaker positions filled. The constant rotation of managers since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson has seen a struggle to have an identity within the changing room