Jonny Evans: Man City have £18m bid for West Brom captain rejected

Manchester City have had an £18m bid for defender Jonny Evans rejected by Premier League rivals West Brom.

Talks have been ongoing for the past couple of weeks about the Northern Ireland international, with City having had two offers turned down for a player that West Brom say is not for sale.

Evans, who had nine years at Manchester United before joining Albion in 2015, has two years left on his deal.

West Brom have also turned down a £10m bid from Leicester for the 29-year-old.

Evans joined United as a schoolboy before going on to win three Premier League titles and two League Cups while making 198 appearances.

He joined West Brom after being told he did not figure in former United manager Louis van Gaal's plans.

Twelve months ago, Arsenal showed an interest in signing Evans but West Brom rejected the approach for their captain.

City manager Pep Guardiola said last month he was still hoping to sign another central defender before the transfer window closed.

His fourth choice in that position is Eliaquim Mangala, who is not thought to have any long-term future at City.

Analysis

Former Everton winger Pat Nevin speaking to BBC Radio 5 live:

Everyone knows Manchester City have a weakness at centre-back. Virgil van Dijk would be the perfect fit but if you don't get him then Jonny Evans, at 29, is probably coming in at his peak.

He's comfortable in a two, comfortable with three at the back, and he's not bad on the ball either. I am struggling to find a negative.

Just look at the Premier League at the weekend, centre-backs are really hard to find. People say he's not worth it, but there are so few of them around - so of course he is worth it.

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333 comments

Comment posted by bhbhbh, at 18:32 16 Aug 2017
Rubbish. They're just trying to destabilise West Brom's title challenge.
Comment posted by Nib, at 17:40 16 Aug 2017
He's a decent centre back. It makes me chuckle when City fans think they should only sign mega players for mega money who attract mega attention, when the truth is every team needs salt of the earth professionals like Evans who do a great job. He's a quality player, if I were WBA I would not sell him.
Comment posted by suev, at 17:34 16 Aug 2017
If WBA sell him I will be gutted as we really need him!
Comment posted by PriceyBCFC, at 17:44 16 Aug 2017
He's better than Mangala, who cost £30million +
Comment posted by User0463985174, at 17:40 16 Aug 2017
Pep obviously sees him as a replacement for Stones !!!!!!!!
Comment posted by Forza_CFC, at 17:45 16 Aug 2017
So not only will he spend his life on the bench but it will push a younger prospect further away from getting a chance at the top level. It's the same at Chelsea, why plough all that money into a youth academy and not use it?
Comment posted by User0654796991, at 17:45 16 Aug 2017
Would be a massive step backwards for Jonny. Why would he want to go from a decent sized club like West Brom to a small plastic club like City? Best for him if he stays where he is!
Comment posted by Mpworkman, at 18:57 16 Aug 2017
Another reason why the transfer window should have closed last week. No amount of money replaces a good first team regular who has gone through pre season. Would be a great loss, even if replaced quickly, as a new player would take some time to bed in to the team. Gutted if this happens.
Comment posted by D1679110813156, at 17:40 16 Aug 2017
Just goes to show the scarcity of English-speaking defenders who know the league. Evans is a solid player, but not exactly a top 4 club player, is he? Yet every single gormless moaning fan comes out with the inevitable 'we need to sign a defender etc. etc.'

The money may be apparently infinite, the talent pool most definitely *isn't.*
Comment posted by David Windsor, at 18:02 16 Aug 2017
On reflection maybe Guardiola is thinking about putting him in goal? He is quite good at playing the ball out from the back, which appears to be the only criterion that matters.
Comment posted by ThreeLions, at 17:38 16 Aug 2017
Does he have to spend 500m in each transfer window ??
Comment posted by D1679223888070, at 17:45 16 Aug 2017
Rumours are that Evans will put pen to paper on a 5 year deal by the end of the week, worth roughly £275,000 a week. £65M fee plus 10M in add on's...Bargain...
Comment posted by simon, at 05:54 17 Aug 2017
stop this farce stealing the club captain at the beginning of a season thats already started. season tickets bought, shirts bought ,squads who have done their pre season then they have to find a new captain within 2 weeks all because a rich club cant be bothered to bring through its own youth players. rubbish rubbish rubboish
Comment posted by youwhatnow, at 17:44 16 Aug 2017
He has more class Han to go to City.
It does however show just how bad the City central defensive signings have been in recent past that they're even looking at Evans.
Comment posted by simon, at 18:14 16 Aug 2017
this is exactly why the transfer window should already be closed a very rich team tyrying to buy another clubs captain after the seasons started an utter disgrace if you have got an evans shirt do you get your money back
Comment posted by ruweller, at 21:08 16 Aug 2017
Good Evans!
Comment posted by Itsonlymyopinion, at 17:53 16 Aug 2017
If City are looking for a reliable defender with pedigree Jonny Evans fits the bill. He reads the game well and has good technical skills and is massively underrated.
Comment posted by User0593293414, at 18:07 16 Aug 2017
In other news, Barcelona are about to sign Sun Jihai for £24M.
Comment posted by Richard, at 17:47 16 Aug 2017
Fletcher and Evans were really solid for Albion. With the disappointing loss of Fletcher(why did he want to go to that boring lot up in Stoke?), I just hope we're not going to lose yet another quality player. Not sure Gareth Barry will be as good a replacement for either, but we shall see.
Comment posted by Stu, at 18:00 16 Aug 2017
44. Yeahyeahyeah

Utd have bought 3 players, unless i have missed something im sure there are a few more players than that in the league, Huddersfield have signed more than Utd.
Before you talk crap try getting some facts