Jonny Evans has been told by West Brom that he will be going no-where this summer.
Rumours suggest that Arsenal are interested in the 28-year-old defender but have been quoted a valuation of £25million.
The versatile Northern Irishman is traditionally a left-back but can also play at centre-back, a void which the Gunners are looking to fill. Per Mertesacker is a long-term absentee and Arsene Wenger’s search for a replacement has failed thus fair.
The club are in talks with Spanish side Valencia over a possible deal for Shkordran Mustafi but his manager is keen for the German to remain in Spain.
Tony Pulis is known to place a lot of emphasis on his defence, and since arriving at the club, his side have mustered 22 cleansheets with only Arsenal, Man City and Man United trumping that total.
Evans of course, is a key to the Baggies defence and would be a huge loss at the Hawthorns.
Pulis reiterates importance of Evans
Pulis said: “You don’t want to lose your best players, but in football sometimes that happens."
He added, "If it does happen, you need to make sure you know where your replacements are. If Arsenal come in for Jonny, if we do any business we’ll do it between the clubs.”
Pulis, however, did admit that if a deal was on the cards he would remain very coy about the situation. He continued: “I wouldn’t talk here about doing a deal with Arsenal or anybody else.”
The Welshman described Evans as an “outstanding player” and stated that “the most important thing is that Jonny is with us and we want him to stay”.
West Brom registered a 1-0 win on the opening day at Selhurst Park and Pulis paid tribute to Evans’ efforts: “Against Crystal Palace, whether it was Townsend or Zaha, and it’s not Jonny’s favourite position playing as a full-back, he was most probably our best player on the pitch."