Both Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger will likely have their fingers crossed that West Brom will be relegated this season.
West Brom currently sit in 19th place in the Premier League table and are in serious danger of dropping down to the Championship for the first time since 2010.
And there’s a good reason for Guardiola and Wenger to want to see the Baggies come up short in their relegation battle because it’s emerged that one of the top targets for Manchester City and Arsenal, Jonny Evans, has a specific release clause which means that clubs can get him for a measly £3 million if he goes down with West Brom.
Both City and Arsenal have made enquiries about Evans, who has 18 months left on his current deal at the Hawthorns, but interest has reportedly cooled in recent weeks, presumably because the clubs are willing to wait to see if they can get the Northern Ireland international on the cheap in the summer.
City are currently favourites to be Evans’ next destination and Guardiola approached West Brom for the 30-year-old in the summer, only to be scared off by then-manager Tony Pulis’ valuation of the defender.
“My colleague [West Brom boss] Tony Pulis put a price that we couldn’t afford at that moment,” Guardiola said in September.
“I don’t know about the summer or next season but now he’s a player for West Brom. We will survive.”
City are also believed to be in talks over a £60 million move for Athletic Bilbao centre-half Aymeric Laporte, the defender who has been linked with several of Europe’s top clubs.
Sky Sports reports that, having missed out on Alexis Sanchez, City have funds in reserve and are considering spending that money to trigger Laporte’s release clause in order to shore up their defence for the coming seasons.
