Looking at Arsenal’s goals-against figures this season (25 in 20 games) there is little surprise that Arsene Wenger was very keen on buying a strong Premier League proven centre-back in the summer transfer window, and now that Virgil van Dijk has gone to Liverpool there are not many more available in the winter window.
Arsenal were very heavily linked with the West Brom defender Jonny Evans but the Baggies refused to sell at any price. The new West Brom manager Alan Pardew though has revealed that he will be prepared to sell if he can use the funds to bring in a new striker that is urgently needed.
“I have to keep one eye all throughout January in the goals for column, because I have got to get that to change somehow,” he said. “I have got to get goals on the board, or you cant win games otherwise.
“I am conscious that if there are no funds available I might have to move something around.
“I have always thought that you would be slightly naive in your job if you didn’t try to cover all the bases.
“So there is a scenario that Jonny Evans might move. For sure I have looked at that. There is a scenario that Jonny doesn’t move. There is a scenario someone else moves.
“And with (technical director) Nicky Hammond, someone I know well and who is brilliant at his job, I am pretty sure we have it all covered. If we do some business in January we will be doing it for the right reasons.”
Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk was reportedly sold to Liverpool for an amazing £75m this window, so how much does that make Jonny Evans worth? Pardew was not very clear on that. “That is a difficult one,” he said. “It sometimes come down to contract length, the safeguards you have on someone’s contract etc.
“But we’ve seen astonishing figures for defenders all through since the start of the season, really. “If I look at defenders and compare Jonny with central defenders in the Premier League, he is right up there.”
Arsenal apparently made a £25million deadline day bid for Evans, but Pardew admitted that he had not heard of any new bids ahead of January yet, but he is expecting some action as the month progresses. “We are not getting any noise to the technical director or myself directly,” he said. “There is noise in the media.
“Sometimes the noise in the media has some clarity to it, we all know that. Sometimes it doesn’t.
“We will be the last to know, probably. I’m pretty confident he will play this game and the West Ham game. After that, let’s wait and see.”
We have already seen injuries to Monreal, Koscielny and Mustafi as well and Wenger gave Calum Chambers a run this week and Holding is also waiting in the wings, but are they even good enough? I think it is definitely a fact that Arsenal need another top centre-back, so should Wenger make a move for Evans as quick as possible so we can stop leaking silly goals?
One interesting fact to leave you with; depite West Brom being second bottom of the League, they have only conceded TWO more goals than Arsenal!
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