Alan Pardew has admitted that he hopes to tie Jonny Evans to a new long-term deal at West Bromwich Albion to avoid another transfer saga in the summer.
The Northern Ireland international remains at The Hawthorns until at least the end of the season after Arsenal had a deadline-day bid rejected.
Manchester City also missed out on the centre-back in August, with the sums offered not matching Albion's valuation, and Pardew wants to begin discussions with Evans regarding fresh terms to prevent the unsettling talk from rearing its head a few months down the line.
"I told him what happened, he understood that, and now in my view we need to sit Jonny down and see if we can get a contract that works for him going forward," he said at his weekly press conference. "If not, in the summer again we're going to have this situation. That's something I will speak to the board about in the next couple of weeks.
"He can only be open to those discussions if the figures are right because the market dictates and we have to understand what those figures would have been elsewhere. Whether we can reach those figures I don't know.
"I've spoken to Jonny all the way through. I've said to him what I would be saying in the press, that the last two or three days would be very difficult unless the bid was of a significant amount.
"I respect his position 100% and I've tried to be honest and fair with him from the day I walked in and I will be until the day I walk out. His conduct around the training ground is spot on."
Evans missed West Brom's 3-0 loss at Manchester City on Wednesday evening, but is expected to be involved against Southampton this weekend.
Daniel Lewis
