The transfer window is a crazy time before the start of a season and it is no surprise that some deals prove to be shocking. One such deal, which could really turn out to be one of the weirdest deals would be seeing Jonny Evans join Arsenal from West Bromwich Albion.
That is correct, recent reports suggest that Arsene Wenger is planning a £15 million deal for the 28-year-old defender. Evans joined the Baggies during the start of the 2015 season from Manchester United as he wanted more first team football and he did do a decent enough job in his first season at the cub.
He also did extremely well in Euro 2016 with the Northern Ireland side that impressed many but the deal to bring in the experienced defender could be a stop-gap measure as the Gunners will be without the services of Per Mertesacker for up to four months at least.
The German missing all this time will severely dent the expectations for the Premier League side and even though they have Gabriel Paulista, they still need some cover for Laurent Koscielny as well.
Evans might have had a great Euro 2016, he still should not be signed by Arsenal and here are three reasons why the Gunners should avoid him.
Inconsistent season for the Baggies
Even though he played a few good games for West Bromwich Albion last season, Evans wasn’t the most consistent defender and often was taken apart by certain attackers. The former Manchester United defender was playing under Tony Pulis and he should have shone under such a defence minded coach but Evans couldn’t really transform and become the player he was during his initial years at United.
His inconsistency would be a huge problem for Arsenal and playing him in some of the top games could greatly affect the outcome of the result. The Gunners do not need someone who is still trying to realign their career and more importantly Evans would not be constantly playing games for Arsenal either, so getting him doesn’t really make a lot of sense.
Not the quickest defender in the league
This could be the one reason why Arsenal really should not try to sign him. The 28-year-old isn’t the quickest in the world and isn’t the strongest defender either but he has learned how to deal with this deficiency but the lack of speed would be a huge worry for any club trying to sign him.
Mertesacker wasn’t the quickest of defenders either and he was exposed far too many times last season and this could be a similar story with Evans joining the side. The Gunners shouldn’t take this risk by spending this much on a player that probably will not be starting many games this season.
Arsenal should give chances to their younger players
The Gunners signed Rob Holding recently and even though he will start games for the side, they still have the likes of Calum Chambers in the team who should be given more chances to play and star for the team.
Chambers hasn’t had the best of times for the Gunners and has often been caught out but this could be his chance to shine.
Arsenal are also known for giving youngsters chances and with Holding already providing some sort of cover, it might is best to give Chambers another chance in the heart of the defence. They also have Carl Jenkinson who could also do a good job in the middle of the defence after his excellent season with West Ham.
Arsenal have a lot of options already and instead of spending the money on an older Evans, they should stick with the players they have.