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The Daily Star reports that Arsenal are closing in on a deal to sign West Bromwich Albion centre-half Jonny Evans, and could agree a deal to buy him before the weekend.
The 30-year old defender has been the subject of interest from both Manchester City and Arsenal, but City have now turned their attention to Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte, which gives the Gunners a free run at Evans.
The Northern Ireland international had previously indicated a desire to stay in the North, but appears to have had a change of mind and is now ready to move to The Emirates.
Arsenal are looking for a replacement for Per Mertesacker, who is retiring at the end of the season.
Whist West Brom do not want to sell Evans, they also know that, with the club in the relegation zone at the moment, the terms of his contract mean they will be forced to sell him for as little as £3 million if they were to be forced to drop into the Championship. Therefore, they are ready to let him leave before the end of the window, with Arsenal set to offer £20 million for a player, who West Brom signed from Manchester United in August 2015.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.