Man Utd To Steal March On Arsenal & City With £20m Bid, Player Keen On Move

The January transfer window is now open so clubs are working hard trying to strengthen their squads for the second half of the season and put deals in place for the summer. Today, the  latest on Jonny Evans…

Manchester United are ready to steal a march on Arsenal and Manchester City by launching a £20m bid to re-sign West Brom defender Jonny Evans this month, according to the Mirror.

Evans spent 11 years at Old Trafford and made almost 200 first team appearances after coming through the clubs youth academy before joining West Brom for £8m in the summer of 2015.

The 30-year-old has proven to be an excellent signing for the Baggies and his impressive form led to strong interest from Arsenal and City in the summer with both clubs tabling bids during the closing stages of the window.

West Brom refused to sell for anything less than £30m but they may struggle to get that much now as Evans has less than 18 months left on his contract and is yet to sign an extension despite an offer worth £100,000-a-week being put on the table.

The Mirror says West Brom may be prepared to cash-in this month if Evans doesn’t sign a new deal as they know his value will drop significantly and his sale would provide Alan Pardew with funds to rebuild his squad.

The newspaper claims that Arsenal and City remain keen on signing the Northern Ireland international but it looks like the duo will now face stiff competition for his signature.

That’s because the Mirror suggests Jose Mourinho wants to re-sign Evans this winter and the United boss is ready to test West Brom’s resolve with an opening £20m offer.

Mourinho is seemingly looking to strengthen his options at the back with the likes of Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones and Eric Bailly all enduring injury problems this season while Victor Lindelof has failed to establish himself at Old Trafford.

Arsenal are also being tipped to sign another centre-back with Per Mertesacker set to retire and Laurent Koscielny plagued by an Achilles injury but the Mirror says Evans would prefer to move back up north.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news | Man Utd transfer news

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming days but I think Evans would be a decent signing for United, City or indeed Arsenal and I can see him leaving if a club tables an offer worth in excess of £20m this month.