West Brom boss Tony Pulis has dismissed the prospect of Jonny Evans joining Arsenal, even though he believes the Northern Ireland defender still has the ability to play for an elite club.
Advertisement
Arsenal are still in desperate need for a centre-back to fill the gaps left by injuries.
Per Mertesacker and Gabriel are injured while Laurent Koscielny is not yet fully fit after France’s Euro 2016 campaign, meaning rookies Calum Chambers and Rob Holding played in their 4-3 defeat to Liverpool last week.
‘You don’t want to lose your best players, but in football sometimes that happens.
Albion signed Evans in a deal rising to £8m from Manchester United last summer and he was a stand-out player for them in his first year.
Arsene Wenger has looked at the Northern Ireland worldwide as a possible solution to his centre-back crisis but is yet to make a bid. ‘If it does happen, you need to make sure you know where your replacements are.
Ahead of his side’s home match against Everton on Saturday, Pulis insisted he wanted to keep the 28-year-old, but refused to rule out his potential departure.
“If Arsenal come in for Jonny we’ll do it between the clubs”.
“I am not going to sit here and talk about doing a deal with anyone”. He was most probably our best player against Palace.
Pulis also expressed his desire to keep forward Saido Berahino at The Hawthorns, with Stoke still keen on signing the former England Under-21 worldwide.
Advertisement
“I think Arsene is looking at the Champions League aspect as well”, said Wilkins on the Alan Brazil Up Front podcast.
