Jonny Evans reveals Man Utd job cuts have 'not been easy' as veteran responds to ruthless INEOS-led restructuring

INEOS, led by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, bought a minority stake in Manchester United from the Glazer family in December of last year and has taken control of the club's football operations. As such, they have begun restructuring the backroom and undertaken several layoffs at the club to reduce operating costs. Evans, who has been connected with United since the age of nine, has revealed that the parting of ways with a number of old faces has been 'difficult to see'.

Speaking to the media, Evans said: "A lot of people have lost their jobs their 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.

"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 clearer when we get back.

"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 United, 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.

"It is for such, for a club, is such a huge size and the staff turnover, you have family members working there. My wife has 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."

Earlier this month, it was revealed that INEOS and Ratcliffe had planned to part ways with 250 Manchester United employees from their total workforce of 1,112 staff members heading into the next season after consultancy from Interpath Advisory. The firm determined that Manchester United had a bloated workforce compared to other Premier League rivals and therefore needed to make cut downs in order to bring down annual costs and comply with financial regulations.

It is likely to be Evans' last season with Manchester United after the 36-year-old was only handed a year-long contract extension. As for the rest of the staff, it is expected that the 250 layoffs will be completed before the start of the Premier League season.