Arsenal To Table Improved Defender Bid After Seeing £25m Offer Rejected

Managers are now pressing ahead with their plans for the final days of the summer transfer window so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the globe. Today, Arsenal make their move for Jonny Evans….

Arsenal are set to table an improved offer for Jonny Evans after seeing an opening £25m bid rejected by West Bromwich Albion, according to the Telegraph.

Arsene Wenger is believed to be on the look-out for another centre-back as Shkodran Mustafi is being lined-up for a move to Inter Milan while Gabriel has already joined Valencia.

The Telegraph reported earlier this week that Arsenal chiefs had opened preliminary talks with West Brom over a potential deal for Evans after Wenger renewed his interest in the defender.

We were linked with Evans last summer before signing Mustafi so it looks like Wenger has gone back in for the Northern Ireland international now that Mustafi appears set for a move to Serie A.

It seems we’ve now formalised our interest as the Telegraph are reporting tonight that Arsenal have launched a £25m bid but the offer has already been knocked back by the Baggies.

The newspaper says Arsenal are expected to submit an improved bid for the 29-year-old which will be closer to West Brom’s £30m valuation but could still face competition from Man City for his signature.

City have been strongly linked with Evans in recent weeks but they can’t sign the former Man Utd centre-back until they offload Eliaquim Mangala – who’s is stalling on a move to the Hawthorns.

Pep Guardiola is still hoping to persuade Mangala to accept a move to West Brom as that would pave the way for City to step-up their interest in Evans and try to hijack Arsenal’s move.

We’ll have to wait and see how things progress over the coming hours but the situation is going to have to move quickly as Evans is due to fly to San Marino at 11am on Thursday morning ahead of Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifier.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news

I don’t think there is any question that we’ll need another centre-back if Mustafi leaves and while Evans might not be everyone’s cup of tea, I don’t think he’d be the worst signing as he has bags of experience and his no-nonsense approach might be just what we need to sort out our back three.