Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes were among the Manchester United stars who didn't immediately see the talent of Patrice Evra following his move to Old Trafford from Monaco.
The left-back signed for Sir Alex Ferguson back in January of 2006 for a fee of around £5.5million on a three-and-a-half-year contract – but things didn't initially go to plan.
Evra has now fondly remembered how many of his new team-mates were aware of how much improvement he needed – which made him add a routine into training he hadn't previously needed.
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Speaking to Betfair, Evra said: "I love to be challenged in my life. I think that's when you see the best version of myself.
"I'll be honest with you, players like Paul Scholes, they said: 'Patrice I think you were a joke! I think we should send you back for free to Monaco!'.
"I remember some players like Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney they were laughing at me in training when people were pushing me down because I needed to adapt my football.
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"I was a skilful player, I didn't know that first you needed to be strong. So first I went in the gym, which I never did while I was playing in France."
Evra went on to say that his mum was his hero, saying that she lost her leg but always kept smiling and dancing by retaining her positive energy.
Adding: "When people talk about me, it's not like a need them to surprise myself but that's when I think, okay guys, now it's show time."
Evra remained at United for nine seasons, picking up five Premier League titles and three League Cups as well as the Champions League.
The former France international made a total of 379 appearances in all competitions scoring 10 goals, leaving to join Juventus in the summer of 2014.
Evra went on to win two Serie A titles before returning to France with Marseille, calling time on his career after five appearances at West Ham in 2018.
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