Manchester United's new deal for Patrice Evra is indication of their failure to find his successor.

The Independent says Evra is set to be offered a 12-month contract extension at Manchester United.

United have not found an adequate replacement for Evra. Fabio da Silva, currently on loan at the Premier League's bottom side Queen's Park Rangers, has not demonstrated that he is ready to return to Old Trafford and step up.

Neither has Alex Buttner suggested that he is anything more than back-up material for Evra. United's decision to lay out £4m to the Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem for the 23-year-old, who did not set the world alight in his three years there, has puzzled some observers in the Netherlands.