Footie Central | Football Blog Blogging the football world
Despite buying Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a club record fee, getting Mesul Ozil to sign a new contract, letting several fringe players go on loan, and allowing Mathieu Debuchy to join Saint Etienne, there was one piece of business Arsenal failed to get done on transfer day, according to the Daily Star.
They report that the Gunners made a late £12 million bid to sign West Bromwich Albion central defender Jonny Evans, but the fee was turned down by the Premier League strugglers who believe the Northern Ireland international is worth far more.
Evans was widely linked with a move away from the Hawthorns during the transfer window, with both Arsenal and Manchester City linked with the player. City, however, decided to look elsewhere, signing Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao for a club record fee of £57 million.
That left Arsenal favourites to sign Evans but he will now stay at West Brom for the rest of the season, although he has the option in his contract to leave the club in June, if they are relegated, for just £3 million.
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.