Arsenal transfer news: Gunners bid for Jonny Evans was 'no way near' West Brom's valuation says Alan Pardew

Alan Pardew revealed that West Bromwich Albion rejected Arsenal's deadline day bid for Jonny Evans as the Gunners' offer was "no way near" their valuation.

The Northern Ireland international has less than 18 months left on his contract at the Hawthorns. He was linked with a move to the north London club last summer, while Pep Guardiola's Manchester City were also believed to be keen on signing the centre-back.

Arsenal and City looked at the option of landing Evans in January. The former Newcastle United and Crystal Palace manager had already warned the potential suitors to make an offer earlier in the transfer window.

According to the Evening Standard, Arsenal lodged a £12m ($17m) bid for Evans on the final day of the recently concluded transfer window. Pardew stressed the offer tabled by the Gunners was way below their asking price. He also claimed that even Arsene Wenger's side knew their bid for the former Manchester United man will be rejected by West Brom.

"It wasn't for lack of warning to Arsenal and to all the clubs. I've sat here every week saying 'don't make a bid on the last day, because you're not going to get what you want, really'," Pardew explained, as quoted by the Evening Standard.

"Unless it's a bid that's going to knock us off our chair, and it was no way near that. So they [Arsenal] got probably the response they were expecting with that bid, I think. Jonny is a very, very important player.

"He is a great player. He is part of the spine of the team and that's what I tried to strengthen this window."

Pardew is aware that clubs will come calling for Evans after the end of the 2017/18 season. The 56-year-old manager has urged West Brom's board to secure his future by handing him a new contract.

"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," Sky Sports reported West Brom manager as saying.

"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."