Pardew powerless to stop Evans exit
ALAN PARDEW has admitted West Brom may not be able to hold on to £35million-rated Jonny Evans.
Arsenal visit the Hawthorns tomorrow as known admirers of the 29-year-old central defender.
Albion rebuffed summer offers from the Gunners, Manchester City and Leicester but Pardew says they might not be able to shrug off another big-money offer.
He said: “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. There have been astonishing figures paid for defenders since the start of the season.
“If I look at defenders and compare Jonny with central defenders in the Premier League, he is right up there.”
Pardew didn’t want to lose Andy Carroll when he was at Newcastle but was unable to stop the striker going. He said: “The truth of it is, I couldn’t afford to lose Andy Carroll on the last day of the window.
“We didn’t have enough cover and it really put the club at jeopardy.
“But of course the finance of that deal made that decision something that was taken out of my hands.”
Pardew may also have to strengthen other areas after learning that £17m record signing Nacer Chadli will not play again until March.
The Belgium international faces a race to get to the World Cup after pulling up with a recurrence of a hip injury just 15 minutes after coming on as a substitute against Stoke.
Pardew added: “I know where we are financially, and it’s pretty tight. The Chadli injury is a blow. It has taken away a major creative force in my team.”
The players will wear black armbands and there will be a round of applause in the 42nd minute for Richard Eades, one of the club’s Baggie Bird mascots. The 42-year-old died on Boxing Day and the players and staff had a whip round to help his family.