Arsenal have joined Leicester and Manchester City in the race to sign Jonny Evans from West Brom.
Jonny Evans of West Bromwich Albion competes with Leonardo Ulloa of Leicester City during the Premier League Asia Trophy.
Arsenal have joined Leicester City and Manchester City in the race to sign Jonny Evans from West Bromwich Albion before the transfer window closes, reports the Telegraph.
The Foxes have most recently had a bid of £21m rejected for the defender, with City expected to return with their own improved offer worth £30m.
Arsene Wenger, manager of Arsenal.
Leicester now look unlikely to sign Evans with the Citizens and now the Gunners also in the hunt, but for the latter they should have perhaps avoided this situation by pushing through a deal 12 months ago.
The same newspaper reported in September 2016 that the North London club made an inquiry about signing the Northern Ireland international earlier that summer.
Yet the Baggies knocked them back and they instead turned their attention to Shkodran Mustafi, who they secured from Valencia in a £35m deal.
Jese of Stoke City and Shkodran Mustafi of Arsenal battle for possession.
Mustafi has since failed to impress with his performances, playing just once so far this season – during the 1-0 Premier League defeat to Stoke City – as manager Arsene Wenger has preferred to use usual left-back Nacho Monreal ahead of Mustafi in central defence.
While West Brom told Arsenal that Evans was not for sale when they made their approach last year, if they are now prepared to accept £30m there is reason to suggest they could have been convinced for the same price then as well. Instead £35m was effectively wasted on a player who no longer appears to feature in Wenger’s first team plans.
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