As his career nears its conclusion, Patrice Evra has re-invented himself as an unlikely social media hero by bringing joy into the lives of thousands with his regular antics on Instagram.
"I LOVE THIS GAME" is regularly bellowed from the Marseille full-back whether he's about to hit you with a rendition of 'Aint No Mountain High Enough' from his car or he's playing with a lion cub or a dolphin, and the internet loves it.
While many new fans are being exposed to Evra at his goofy best, Man Utd fans have long since loved him for his warmth, wackiness, and humility, all of which were on show when he welcomed Full Time Devils' Stephen Howson into his hotel room for a chat recently.
It was here that Evra delivered a message to Man Utd fans and revealed the words from Alex Ferguson that pushed the team on to win the league after a 4-1 defeat at home to Liverpool in 2009.
No one club is bigger than Man Utd.
That is why I ask the all the fans not to be too harsh on the players that play right now, and to support them, because I remember in my time they never booed any player, they were always behind us.
My best memory with the fans, when I saw that this family is so loyal and they give everything to the players, is when we were losing 4-1 at Old Trafford against Liverpool.
Everyone remembers that game, but when we came off the pitch, all the fans were singing 'UNI-TED, UNI-TED, UNI-TED', I remember we got in the dressing room and Ferguson just said to all of us; 'Guys, did you hear them? We should win the league for them.'
I remember we were like seven points behind, and at the end, we won the league. I think that league title was especially for the United fans.
Man Utd took the lead in that famous game before Fernando Torres gave Nemanja Vidic the run-around, the Serb eventually being sent-off by a free kick that was dispatched by the tremendously forgettable Fabio Aurelio, before Andrea Dossena went on to add further insult to injury.
United then went on a charge, Kiko Macheda made a name himself, and the rest is history as they say. It turns out that Fergie taking a moment to appreciate the fans may have been the catalyst behind that push.
You can check out Evra's interview with Howson below, the Frenchman appears around the 5:45 mark.
