Transfer news: Ex-Sunderland favourite's future in doubt after Premier League relegation

Leicester City will play Sunderland in the Championship next season after being relegated from the Premier League.
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Two-time former Sunderland loanee Jonny Evans and brother of Black Cats captain Corry Evans has admitted his future is uncertain after Leicester City's relegation.

The former Premier League champions will play Sunderland in the Championship next season after Everton's win against Bournemouth sent Leeds United and the Foxes down to the second tier.

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Evans, 35, is out of contract this summer after five seasons at the King Power Stadium. The ex-Manchester United and West Brom man previously also enjoyed two loan stints with Sunderland as a youngster.

The first came during the 2006-07 season under Roy Keane. Evans was signed in the January and helped Sunderland gain promotion to the Premier League, making 18 appearances.

The now 100-cap Northern Ireland international returned to Wearside mid-way through the following campaign and played another 15 times in the league as Sunderland avoided relegation before returning to Manchester United and winning three Premier League titles and the Champions League.

Asked on Sky Sports before the game against West Ham at the King Power Stadium if his body could take another season, Evans said: “I don’t know. You never know. It’s been a difficult season. I don’t know what is going to happen next season with myself personally.

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“I have two international matches in June for Northern Ireland and I’ll probably assess things after that. I picked up one or two injuries in October, November time and the knock-on effect of that when I was coming back to training, I was probably pushing too much and felt like I was playing catch-up and maybe overextending myself and reinjuring myself quite a bit.”

Following relegation, Evans stated: “It’s hard to take. We knew it would be a tough ask. We knew we had to win our game and hope something went for us. It didn’t.

“As the game went on, we were asking the referee, asking the linesman (about the Everton score). There were a few cheers but we didn’t know what they were about. We were trying to cope with that and focus on taking our game right to the end.

“It’s hard to put a finger on things. Everyone wants to blame things. As a club, we haven’t been good enough. We’re out of the league. It’s a great club. I have no doubt it’ll bounce back.

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“You have to earn the right. There’s so many good teams in this league. Everything has to go right for you. It’s a really competitive league. It’s tough. If you’re not on it, you get punished.

“After the first couple of months, after a bad start, it’s hard to turn it around. We got ourselves into a bad place and found it difficult to get out.

“It’s been difficult (with injury). I feel a bit guilty. Maybe pushing it too much with the eagerness. You never know what way the club will see things. We will have to deal with the uncertainty. A lot of players are out of contract and I’d guess there will be a lot of changes at the club.”

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