EVANS DELIGHTED WITH BRIDCUTT CAPTURE

EVANS DELIGHTED WITH BRIDCUTT CAPTURE

The head coach discusses his first United signing...

United head coach Steve Evans has spoken of his delight at finally completing a loan move for Sunderland’s Liam Bridcutt.

Thursday morning saw the midfielder pen an emergency loan deal to bring him to Elland Road until the start of January following weeks of speculation linking him with the club.

Evans had made no secret of his admiration for Bridcutt while United pursued his services, and the head coach pin-pointed him as a key target soon after taking the job last month.

“We’re delighted,” said Evans. “When I first came in and assessed the squad, I looked at that central area and I wanted somebody that carries the qualities of Liam in there.

“Liam can play a in defensive role or an attacking role. He’s high energy and he really is a step up in terms of the quality of everything he does.

“But he has to come and endorse and embrace what we do because we’ve got some very good players in there.

“When I look at the likes of Murphy, Cook, Mowatt, Dallas... I love those boys.”

In his first interview after signing, Bridcutt told LUTV that Evans had played a big part in his decision to join United despite interest from a number of other clubs.

The midfielder said: “I’ve had a few other options, but from speaking to the manager he’s given me the confidence to come here and show what I can do.

“When the manager shows so much interest in you and puts so much faith in you, you always want to repay that with your performances. That is one of the main reasons I have come here.

“He’s given me a good opportunity to come and play and hopefully I can do that.”

Asked what his conversations with Bridcutt entailed, Evans said: “We sat and chatted for a while and the first thing I wanted to hear was that he hadn’t given anybody a ‘yes’ to sign for them.

“He said ‘no’ but it was looking likely that he was going to another club in the Championship. He had a choice of three in the end – two others and ourselves.

“I asked him if he’d played at Elland Road, if he’d played against Leeds United, if he’d seen the support and if he’d done any research into the football club.

“I’ve said publicly that it’s one of the biggest clubs in English football, and Liam has come from a good club in Sunderland.

“He’s only here for a short space of time initially but I think it will be extended until the end of the season. That has been pretty much agreed by all parties, subject to everybody being happy at the time.

“I’ve spoken to him about getting his career back on track, playing regular football and looking forward to Saturdays and Tuesdays again.

“I want him to get on that training pitch with a real zest of getting ready for the next match.

“There’d be no problem if I pick him on Saturday – he’s come ready to play.

“He’s played 90 minutes plus extra time earlier in the week (for Sunderland Under-21s), so he needed today to get his legs back.”

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