Manchester City expected to sign West Brom defender Jonny Evans for £30m

West Bromwich Albion defender Jonny Evans is expected to complete a £30m (€32.6m, $38.4m) move to Manchester City next week, as Pep Guardiola is determined to strengthen his defensive options before the end of the transfer window.

Despite spending over £200m on players so far this summer, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager sees Evans as the perfect player to provide cover for Vincent Kompany, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi.

City had an £18m bid for the 29-year-old turned down last week and were reportedly ready to turn their attention to Middlesbrough centre-back Ben Gibson earlier this week. However, according to the Mirror, they will now make a second bid for Evans, who is yet to play this season after failing to extend his deal at The Hawtorns, thought to be in the region of £30m.

West Brom manager Tony Pulis has previously stated the club do not have to sell Evans, who has been called into Northern Ireland's squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and the Czech Republic, but admitted they could consider "good" offers.

"We don't want to sell him, we don't need to sell him," Pulis said before last Saturday's (19 August) trip to Burnley. "We're not desperate to get the money in, so it'd have to be a very, very good offer. And then we would sit down and talk to Jonny about the situation."

West Brom, who tied down centre-back Craig Dawson down to a new three-year deal, remain keen to bolster their rearguard, although it is understood any arrival would not be dependent on Evans leaving the club.

Egyptian centre-back Ahmed Hegazy has impressed in his first two Premier League appearances since moving to The Hawthorns on loan from El Alhy Cairo but Pulis, who has seen his side win the first two games of the campaign while keeping clean sheets in both games, wants to add another defender.

The Welshman was told earlier this week that he would have the final say over whether to sign Kevin Wimmer, after the club's board gave the green light to a £15m deal for the Tottenham Hotspur defender and is also keeping an eye on Gibson.

The 24-year-old has attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs, including City and Chelsea, but Boro are expected to fight to keep him at the Riverside Stadium as they look to bounce back to the top-flight at the first time of asking.