West Brom fear summer transfer scramble for Jonny Evans if defender doesn't sign new deal, admits Alan Pardew
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Alan Pardew fears a summer scramble for Jonny Evans unless West Brom can tie the defender down on a new deal.
Baggies boss Pardew confirmed the basement club knocked back a £12million deadline day bid from Arsenal for their skipper.
Albion had previously considered selling centre-back Evans in January to free up funds for a new striker.
Arsenal were keen on Evans, 30, and Man City were previously, but Pardew insisted the Gunners' offer on Wednesday was instantly dismissed.
Pardew stated throughout the window that Albion wouldn’t let £25m-rated Evans go at the last-minute if they couldn’t replace him.
(Image: West Bromwich Albion FC)
(Image: REUTERS)
Albion also decided to keep the Northern Ireland international after bringing in Daniel Sturridge on loan from Liverpool to boost their goal-shy attack.
Evans, on £70,000-a-week, will be available on a cut-price £3m release clause if Albion are relegated and he could expect a major pay-rise elsewhere.
But Pardew said yesterday: “I told him what happened on Wednesday, 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 ago.
“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.
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
“Whether we can reach those figures I don’t know.
“He’s clinical in terms of his thinking 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.”
Evans missed the midweek Premier League defeat at Man City - who previously tried to buy him last summer - with a hamstring injury.
Ahead of hosting Southampton tomorrow, Pardew refused to confirm whether the defender would be fit to return.
(Image: Stu Forster)
But he said Evans has had no complaints with his stance.
Pardew added: “It wasn’t for a lack of warning to the clubs like Arsenal.
“I sat here every week saying don’t make a bid on the last day unless it was going to knock us off our chair.
“It was no-where near that.
“They got the response they were expecting with that bid.
“Jonny is a very important, a great player and part of the spine of the team and that is what I tried to strengthen in this window.”