Evra captained the United team to Premier League glory and won countless other trophies at the club.
The former France international, who is now 43, admits he could have made a shock comeback in 2021.
Appearing on Shane Todd's Tea With Me podcast, he explained: "I was approached by a Premier League team three years ago to come back to play, but to be honest, I don't miss football.
"But if you say, 'Patrice, let's go, we have a game,' I will train like when I was a professional.
"People don't understand, some people play football for fun, but I always say, it's easy to reach the top of the pyramid, but to stay at the top, that's when you have to make sacrifices. It's a 24-hour job; you have to eat and sleep football. You have to be dedicated to that.
"When you do that you sacrifice time with your family and with your friends.
"I always tell the story of when I came back home one day, and my son, who was three years old, was crying. I asked why, and he said, 'Because I hate Manchester United.'
"I thought, ‘Oh my God, he's Liverpool or Chelsea, man, don't tell me that or I'm going to have a heart attack,’ but I asked why, and he said, 'Man United took my dad away.'"