Leicester City complete £3.5m signing of centre back Jonny Evans from West Brom after activating release clause
- Jonny Evans was heavily in demand after West Brom’s top flight relegation
- However Leicester have won the race for the Northern Irish central defender
- Evans will pair up with Harry Maguire in the centre of the Foxes’ defence
Leicester City have completed the £3.5million signing of West Bromwich Albion defender Jonny Evans.
The 30-year-old completed his medical on Thursday and has signed a three-year deal at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester have landed the Northern Ireland international for a cut-price fee after triggering a clause in Evans’s contract following West Brom’s relegation from the Premier League.
Leicester City have completed the signing of Jonny Evans after paying his release clause
Evans told the club website: ‘It’s great to join and I’m happy it’s all gone through. When this opportunity came up, it’s one that I couldn’t turn down. It’s an ambitious club, the owners are ambitious and everyone wants to push the club forward.
‘I hope that I can give lots to the team and the club. It’s a great place to play football, the fans really get behind the team and the players are fantastic – these are all factors that made me want to sign for this football club.’
Evans has been a long-term target for Leicester, who tried to land the former Manchester United defender last summer but had multiple bids of up to £23m rejected.
Now, they have bagged the former Manchester United centre-back for nearly £20m less, which they will pay Albion in two installments.
Evans had been expected to be at the heart of a tug-of-war this summer with both Manchester City and Arsenal having had offers rejected in the past year.
However, Leicester have been in talks with Evans’ representatives for several weeks and were always confident of completing a deal.
Evans becomes Leicester’s second signing of the transfer window following the £22m arrival of Porto right-back Ricardo Pereira.
Leicester boss Claude Puel is also hoping to sign Alexsandar Dragovic on a permanent deal. The Austria international spent last season on loan from Bayer Leverkusen.
Leicester are also leading the race to land highly-rated Norwich playmaker James Maddison in a deal worth around £20m.
Everton and Fulham are also said to be interested in the England under-21 international but Maddison is believed to prefer a move to Leicester to be closer to his family.
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