According to the BBC, Arsenal and Manchester City have both revived their interest in Jonny Evans having failed to sign the player in previous years.
The Northern Ireland international has been valued at around £25 million by West Bromwich Albion.
While league leaders City look like the ‘no-brainer’ option for the 30-year-old, who still has family in the North-West, it’s understood that the Baggies interest in Mathieu Debuchy could help swing the move in Arsenal’s favour. The France international has made clear his desire to quit the Emirates in search of first team football.
City are looking for cover for Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala while Arsenal know Per Mertesacker is retiring at the end of the season. The Gunners also have doubts over the long-term future of Laurent Koscielny, managing an ongoing Achilles problem, and Calum Chambers, even though he’s just signed a new deal.
Tony Pulis, sacked as West Brom manager in November, revealed in August that Arsenal had tried to sign Evans in the summer of 2016.
“Arsenal were interested last year and made an offer last year. I don’t think this club has received anything from Arsenal [this year].”
Pulis’ replacement, Alan Pardew is thought to be keen on reshaping his relegation-threatened squad with any funds brought in from the sale of Evans.
ok then city will get it and wenger will explain in the next press conference how close he was in signing him
Let’s hope that does happen then because he is a crap player.
Is he not better than Per/Chambers/Holding ??
I don’t think he is better than them at all. We we’re singing Holding is the new Cannavaro last May. I still think he will have a better career than Evans.
I’d rather get a decent CB in the summer than a mediocre one now who will be on our books for the next few years. This season is already shot, so Chambers/Holding can get us through to the summer.
Getting rid of Gabriel now looks bloody stupid. The only defender we had in the 25-30 age bracket has now started every single game for Valencia and is currently five points above Real Madrid.
Speaks more to our defensive set-up than to the quality of any individual players, doesn’t it? It also speaks to what a phenomenal player Koschielny is, too, as he’s been a good or great defender despite how crappy our defensive structure has been.
The saddest thing of all isn’t that it’s Johnny Evans.
It’s that we desperately need a new defender and we are considering Evans solely because he’s been made available.
There’s no identifying a player that might fit in our setup and going and making offers.
It’s passive, sit-back, oh nobody is available bullshit. Which sometimes comes off (Sanchez, Ozil), but most of the time gives us players like Welbeck, or Cech.
I don’t think it matters what defender we have or what defender we go for in the market. The way Wenger sets up his teams exposes the defense in suicidal ways. The personnel change over the years. The results remain the same. It’s been a long time since I felt confident about our defense, and the times when I did felt like they happened by accident (something forcing Wenger’s hand, etc.).
No thanks
How on Earth we’ve come to look at an Utd reject as a solution to our defensive problems is beyond me. I’m not even in the mood to compare him with Sylvestre because that guy was cheap/free. Evans was average for all his career and “flourished” only because he played in a defensive-minded team like WBA. In this offensive-minded, DM-less Arsenal he will be exposed just like Per, Mustafi or Kos. 25 M wasted.
The same way we signed a Man U reject as a forward and look what a good buy he has proved to be (not).
If he’s so shite, why is Pep after him? We need someone experienced and commanding to take Per’s place in the squad. No point in dismissing Evans just because United sacked him off.
Any agent worth their fee will lump city into any transfer rumor to increase the pay packet for their player.
City and teams like them are how you end up with inflated transfer markets and uncompetitive leagues. Look at germany, france, italy, and spain, and that’s the direction England is headed.
Is that the same Pep that spent £20m on Dmytro Chygrynskiy?
Yeah also the same Pep who’s the best manager in the world
To be fair I’ve heard a few people on tv say they shouldn’t have sold him. If city want him too he can’t be all that shit.
Also there are times when I think it wouldn’t be hard to improve on what we already have … Like yesterday for example … Or last week … Or the week before …
Jonny Evans is a very good defender who happens to play in a very poor side. I don’t understand the comments saying he’s crap.
I cannot imagine why anyone with any ambition would want to play at Arsenal under this regime.
I really do not understand the use of “regime” when talking about a football club. It’s not North Korea ffs
Well, one regime has a slightly crazy, egotistical, deluded megalomaniac in charge of everything.
The other is North Korea.
Regime-a mode of rule or management.
Get it now, Einstein?
Alright Shakespeare, calm down ?
Would you prefer “administration”?
In a heartbeat. Mertesacker is past it and retiring, koscielny has injury problems now, holding and chambers don’t seem up to the task yet and the jury is out on Mustafi. At the very least he adds some experience and composure at the back. If we don’t get him though I doubt we have any backup options, as always seems to be the case.
Is really 30 years old defender from WBA is consoidered replacement for the 32 and 33 years old Kos and Per?
30 is the prime age for a defender. The rest of our centre backs are years from being in their prime. You need experience in defence.
I think Evans is a stop gap and the perfect age to help Chambers and Holding. Those guys need as much help as possible considering the young stupid decisions they’re making on the pitch. Evans I dont think ia necessarily a United reject either but rather a “Louis Van gaal reject” because he is a one type of player, simpliy a defender.
I don’t like him because he looks like Matthew Lillard (who you may have seen in the film version of Scooby Doo as Shaggy)
he looks nothing like Matthew Lillard other than that both of them have a face and some hair.
he looks more like Seth McFarlane/Stewie from Family Guy
Its better to pay 25m for Evans now than 20m for Chambers before)))
IMHO good solution to fix defensive problems right now.
This speculation takes me back to those nightmarish days when Wenger signed Silvestre and Squillaci as our defensive reinforcements.
But you have the benefit of hindsight. Pick the best defenders for the 2022 season right now. Include your email and home phone in the reply so we can remind you how wrong you were.
I’ll go:
1. Clem Fandango
2. Max Power
3. I.C. Wiener
The definition of underwhelming
Wenger shouldn’t be allowed to spend anymore money on a defender. Use a tiny fraction if it to hire Tony Adams to sort out and coach our current defenders.
Anybody losing their mind over this probably hasn’t watched Evans play. He’s better than anybody else we have at the moment (except for a 100% fit Koscielny, which we’ll never see again).
Yup.
At Arsenal: First team
At City: Back up
Says it all.
He’s 30 years old; this team needs completely rebuilding, not another stop-gap.
But I wont trust this manager to sign anyone. Lets keep the fund for the next manager.
My head is red raw with me trying to fathom why we didn’t move for Van Dijk when the Pool made a hash of signing him last year.
Jonny Evans a 30 year old who’s potential to end up keeping Kos company in the medical room is beyond me.
If Wenger doesn’t think Chambers and Holding are good enough get rid and reinvest for the future. Enough of this sticking plaster mentality – its so God damn tiresome!
ohh yeah he will stick with this average players and in a few years time those players will come out and say how they benefitted (by not performing but earning) from this Father like figure.. BS.
Same mate. Dont know why we never moved for someone like Sadio Mane either when we could have.
Well I can come up with about 75 million reasons why…
ok evens, you,ve got a choice, its man city OR arsenal, whats it going to be, Errr
We all know Arsene love rejects from United.
Short term solution right up wengers street. Looks like we’re short of some pace and experience in the cb position now kos is struggling. Maybe wasn’t the long term solution but getting rid of Gabriel without a replacement has come back to bite him in the arsenal.
Pace? .. pace!?
Which Jonny Evans have you been watching
Just no….
I don’t think 25 million for a 30 year old is the best idea. Evans isn’t what we need either, we need a big, strong & powerful centre back who can compliment a passer like Kos or Mustafi.
With Kos, Monreal, Per & Debuchy all over 30 this isnt the profile of player we need. I fail to believe that we can’t identify a player with the profile I’ve mentioned who is 25-26.
This is joke. Evans is 30 and isn’t going to get better. Rugani might be available for Juve and there’s the likes of Koulibaly. What we have now is an aging core with its 2 best players likely to leave. Wenger has destroyed this team. He has finally gotten his wish – to leave us in worst shape than Fergie did.
Fergie coached arsenal?
Yup, Evans is all that is missing from us obtaining CL glory. FFS it’s like banging your head against a wall. Perhaps on a more positive note, perhaps now that he is in the stsnds he’ll get a different view point of the team & be more “Oh my…!!!”
he certainly can’t not see anything from there…
Evans will not solve our defensive problem. He lacks pace and lose focus easily. Arsenal defense need rebuilding and a good DM.
I don’t rate Evans. Feel like we’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel here… SMH
I can’t see us spending 25 million on a 30 year old player that isn’t ronaldo.
A financial contest betw us and Citeh?
The suspense is killing me…
I really don’t like Jonny Evans and if that’s the best we can do then what the fuck is going on. The only reason City could be looking at him (if they actually are, which I doubt) is because he qualifies as home grown and they can sit him on the bench to make up the quota. We also have a problem as most of our home grown players are rubbish, and we need seven of them over the age of twenty-one. We can’t just get rid of Walcott and Welbeck without thinking about that. At the moment we have… Read more »
Underwhelming. I’d have Harry McGuire, that guy is a machine.
Will becgood addition. Should have got him in begining of season to retire per and replace out of form kosc