West Brom defender Jonny Evans's options for foreign travel are growing after the Northern Irishman reveals he has decided to learn Spanish

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Jonny Evans's decision to learn Spanish shouldn’t be taken as a sign that he is preparing to join the Pep Guardiola revolution at Manchester City after all, but the West Bromwich Albion defender is open to new opportunities.

West Brom rejected City’s £18million offer for Evans in the summer before Arsenal and Leicester City tested their resolve with unsuccessful bids of £25m for the Northern Ireland centre-back late in the transfer window.

Evans is typically philosophical about the situation as he prepares for his country’s World Cup qualifier against Norway in Oslo on Sunday evening.  

Jonny Evans was the subject of an £18m bid from Manchester City during the last window

But his decision to learn Spanish isn't so that he can join Pep Guardiola at the Etihad

Did he feel undervalued by City when the current Premier League leaders were prepared to pay £50m-plus for two other defenders, Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy?

‘No, not at all,’ says Evans, who agrees with the decision to close the window before the season starts next year. ‘It’s hard to judge your own value.

‘Every year the transfer window comes about and everyone starts kicking off about transfer fees.

‘It’s just the way the market constantly surprises us. Sometimes you look at a player and think he’s worth about £15m, then a week later you think “actually he’s maybe worth about £25m”.  

‘You don’t know, do you? How do you put a price on it? I never ever look at figures and think I’m worth this or worth that. I just let things take their course.’

But has it been hard to watch City’s scintillating performances this season, and wonder what might have been? There is talk of Guardiola returning with another bid in January.

‘I watch how every team plays and try and imagine how you’d fit in,’ replies Evans.  

The Northern Irishman says it is difficult to put a price tag on players these days

‘It doesn’t matter if it’s Man City of any team in Europe, you always analyse the big teams and how things are done.

‘I’ve played against City this year. The way they pass and move the ball, I got to see it up close. It’s amazing the way they’re playing.’

The interest in Evans is testament to the way he has established himself at West Brom since leaving his boyhood club Manchester United for a bargain fee of £6m two years ago.

He is happy at the Hawthorns but contemplating what might come next as his 30th birthday approaches in three months’ time.

A move abroad is one option, and Evans has been learning Spanish on his daily commute down the M6 from the Cheshire home he shares with wife Helen and their two young children.  

The 30-year-old centre back has been learning Spanish to perhaps one day move abroad

But for now, at least, the former Manchester United man has his international duty on his mind

‘Every player always thinks if they would play abroad,’ he says. ‘Sometimes I think about it and mention it to my wife – then I don’t think about it for a while!

‘You get to that stage of thinking about your options and what lies ahead. Does that opportunity ever present itself to us as players? That’s something else I have to think about as well.

‘Life doesn’t go the way you planned and you have to make decisions, and sometimes very quick decisions in football.’

For now, Evans’s foreign travel is limited to international duty as Northern Ireland attempt to follow up their first ever appearance at the European Championship finals last summer by reaching the World Cup for the first time since 1986.  

Evans believes that getting to the World Cup finals would eclipse their Euros achievements

Michael O’Neill’s side are already assured of second position in Group C regardless of the result in Oslo on Sunday, and in line for a two-legged playoff to fight for a place in Russia.

‘After the Euros, the pressure on the team was to re-create the ability to go out and win games and have that hunger,’ says Evans.

‘Whoever we get, it will be a great occasion and amazing to be a part of because it’s a two-game playoff to see who reaches the World Cup finals.

‘Just imagine getting to that. It would eclipse everything we did at the Euros.’