Tony Pulis denies West Brom are close to signing Tottenham defender Kevin Wimmer

Tony Pulis has refuted suggestions that West Bromwich Albion are close to agreeing a deal for Tottenham Hotspur defender Kevin Wimmer and insists it would take a "very, very good offer" to tempt the Baggies into selling influential captain Jonny Evans amid sustained interest from Manchester City.

Wimmer made only four Premier League starts for Spurs in 2016-17 and looks set to exit before the 31 August transfer deadline with Mauricio Pochettino closing in on his first summer signing in the shape of highly-rated Ajax centre-back Davinson Sanchez.

Southampton, Stoke City, West Ham United and Crystal Palace have all been linked with the 24-year-old over recent months, while there has also been interest from clubs in the Bundesliga and Serie A.

On Thursday (17 August), The Telegraph published a report stating that Wimmer had entered talks regarding an initial £15m ($19.3m) move to West Brom that could be worth as much as £20m with various add-ons.

It was also said that Pulis, who has now seemingly admitted defeat in his pursuit of Middlesbrough's Ben Gibson, was hopeful of completing negotiations within the coming days.

However, addressing those links with Wimmer during a press conference held before his side's Premier League trip to Burnley, the manager said: "Whoever is saying it is close is miles away from that fact. We've got a lot of irons in the fire and we hope to get deals done and they have to be right for the football club."

Evans bid

Pulis also confirmed speculation that Manchester City had indeed failed with a bid for Evans and reiterated that West Brom do not need to sell the Northern Ireland international, who is still struggling with a lingering hamstring injury and looks set to miss Saturday's trip to Turf Moor along with Gareth McAuley (thigh) and James Morrison (knee).

"They've made an offer that we've turned down," he said.

Asked if Evans was categorically not for sale, Pulis replied: "I think every player is for sale at the right price. I think it's absolutely crazy to say that a team like West Brom won't sell players if people are going to put an enormous amount of money in front of you.

"It's market forces. The two things are, firstly we don't want to sell him, we don't need to sell him. 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."

City's initial offer for former Manchester United defender Evans, seen as a replacement for Eliaquim Mangala and cover for first-choice trio Vincent Kompany, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi, was said to be worth approximately £18m. The Mirror report that the Citizens are now ready to increase their bid to £22m and offer the player wages of £140,000-a-week.