A move for West Brom defender, Jonny Evans was expected to take place and with Manchester City who shifted their attention to Aymeric Laporte, as Arsenal emerged to be in the pole position for his signature. The Gunners could have made it a highly successful January transfer window by sweeping up Evans.
The former Manchester United player has quite deservedly drawn high praise from fans and pundits for his impressive stint with the Baggies over the past two and a half seasons. The Northern Ireland international has been the best defensive element in the West Brom lineup despite the side falling to the relegation spot in the current campaign.
The best of Jonny Evans was seen at Old Trafford as well when Alex Ferguson was at the helm at Manchester United. The retired Scotsman fielded Evans in the centre back role ahead of a lot of talented options and won three league titles with him in the backline.
West Brom had already completed the move for Egyptian defender Ali Gabr to replace Evans and the transfer fee would have allowed Alan Pardew to make further necessary adjustments in the team. With just 13 games left in the season to save themselves from downgrading to the EFL Championship, Pardew will be happy to have kept Evans. Arsenal’s last-minute bid was reported to be in the region of £12 million and was justifiably rejected by West Brom.
It now seems that Pardew wants West Brom to capitalize on the situation by offering Evans a new contract.
“He has handled the situation particularly well,’ said Pardew of the interest from Arsenal and Manchester City. ‘I spoke with him just to round it off because I’ve tried to look him in the eye and tell him the truth from day one.
‘I told him what happened on deadline day, he understood that, and now in my view, we need to sit Jonny down and see if we can get a contract that works for him going forward. If not, in the summer again we’re going to have this situation.
‘That’s something that I will speak to the board about in the next couple of weeks. He can only be open to those discussions if the figures are right because the market dictates and we have to understand what those figures would have been elsewhere. Whether we can reach those figures I don’t know.’
Pardew added: ‘He’s clinical in terms of his thinking. Game time is game time and when he comes off the pitch, of course, he’s effectively CEO of his own company. He decides his own fate. It doesn’t matter about the team around him, his agent or anyone else.
‘They can say what they like and have an opinion. At the end of the day, Jonny Evans says, “This is what I want to do” and I would like him to sign a new contract at this club. But Jonny is the man who makes that decision.’
It remains to be seen if Evans can be persuaded by the Baggies gaffer.
