Manchester United defender Jonny Evans has admitted recent job cuts at the club have been tough to take.
It emerged earlier in July that United were planning to cut 250 jobs across different departments as part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS’ streamlining of the Red Devils’ sporting operations.
BBC Sport reported earlier this week that the Premier League giants had started moving forward with their mass redundancies and Evans – speaking after the 2-1 pre-season friendly defeat to Arsenal – acknowledged the difficult times some staff have endured in recent weeks.
He said: “I had a spell away but have been at the club a long time. A lot of people have lost their jobs these last couple of weeks, it’s been hard and difficult to see. The new owners feel that’s the direction that they want to go. But, you know, it’s not been easy for everyone at the same time.
“I mean, there’s people you’ve known for 20 years and I think the timing of it happened when we came away on tour pretty much. So we were all a bit in the dark and I’m sure everything will be sorted out, things will be a bit more clear when we get back.
“But it’s been a difficult thing, to see people I’ve known for a long, long time. One thing about working in a club like Man Utd, you’re all in and everyone’s always been all in, it’s a big massive staff. But I think that’s just been the culture of the club.”
Evans has made 228 appearances in all competitions for United, the majority of which came in a successful period between 2006 and 2015, winning three Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League.
He added: “It is, for a club, such a huge size and the staff turnover, you have family members working there. People are married and my wife’s been working at the club, my brother has been at the club, my dad’s been at the club. So it’s always had that feeling of people, they give everything they have for the club and it’s such a huge credit to them. That’s just because they love the place so much.”
On the pitch, United were dealt a double injury blow during their defeat to Arsenal as both Rasmus Hojlund and Leny Yoro were substituted with knocks.
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