Pep Guardiola has said he was unable to buy Jonny Evans because Manchester City could not afford West Bromwich Albion’s asking price. Guardiola began the summer targeting Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk but the club hierarchy balked at a fee in the region of £60m. Evans was viewed as a more affordable option yet Guardiola said City did not have the funds despite believing they could buy Arsenal’s Alexis Sánchez on the window’s final day. Philippe Coutinho left out of Liverpool squad for trip to Manchester City Read moreGuardiola said of Evans: “My colleague Tony Pulis [West Brom’s manager] put a price that we couldn’t afford at that moment. Maybe you believe that because we’re Manchester City we could do that [buy a new one].

Source: The Guardian September 08, 2017 13:40 UTC