Transfer Centre

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola: 'West Brom's Jonny Evans was too expensive'

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 09 September 2017

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says that the club could not afford to buy West Bromwich Albion defender Jonny Evans during the most recent transfer window.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has insisted that he is happy with the strength of his first-team squad, despite missing out on the signing of West Bromwich Albion defender Jonny Evans.

During the closing weeks of the transfer window, City were heavily linked with the Northern Ireland international and it appeared that the move would take place once West Brom's valuation was met.

However, Evans eventually remained at The Hawthorns, and Guardiola has claimed that City were unable to meet the fee set by Baggies head coach Tony Pulis.

The 46-year-old told reporters: "My colleague Tony Pulis (West Brom's manager) put a price that we couldn't afford at that moment. I don't know about the summer or next season but now he's a player for West Brom.

"We will survive. In the end we spent money, we sold players. We bought five players who cost around £35m each. It's not a big issue because we sold a lot. We've got money to invest again. I'm happy with the squad and we'll move forward with that."

City were able to keep hold of Eliaquim Mangala, leaving Guardiola with four centre-backs at his disposal until the start of 2018.