West Brom: "Fabulous" Tony Pulis recruit continues to defy the odds | OneFootball

Former West Brom defender was labelled "fabulous" by manager Tony Pulis and continues to perform at the highest level.

Seven years on from his time in the blue and white stripes, former West Bromwich Albion defender Jonny Evans continues to perform at the highest level as he approaches his 18th year as a professional.

When taskmaster Tony Pulis, with his unmistakable pragmatic style, was the man leading the Baggies, he had quickly given them reason to bounce at the end of the 2014/15 season, scaling from 16th place and one point above the relegation zone when taking over the club in January, to finishing 13th by the campaign's close.

Key to the side's turning of the tide alongside the new boss was the January addition of former Man United midfielder Darren Fletcher, who through the mentality he brought to The Hawthorns, shifted the club's entire culture to one emblematic of the Red Devils under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Organisation and accountability became something expected of all and something Pulis was perfect to enforce also.

Therefore, it was no surprise that when West Brom returned to Old Trafford in the summer of 2015 to solidify their defensive line, it would work out quite so well.

Similar to his teammate Fletcher, Evans had quickly fallen out of favour with new United boss Louis Van Gaal, starting just 12 of his 17 appearances in the 2014/15 season.

But like Fletcher, Evans's absence was Albion's gain, so when Pulis promised regular football for the Northern Irish International he immediately communicated the ambition West Brom were after, telling The Mail: “I hope to push the Albion up the league. “It’s a new, fresh challenge for me. One I’m looking forward to.

“I know a few of the lads already and I spoke to a couple, who highly recommended the club.”

Evans brought Premier League pedigree when Albion needed it most

Immediately, Evans became a mainstay in the Pulis system, forming a formidable defensive partnership with compatriot Gareth McAuley, who, together, were vital in the completion of West Brom's primary prerogative to survive in the 2015/16 season.

The Baggies achieved the feat with time to spare this time out, boasting a 14th-place finish and seven points above the division's danger zone.

Although Evans suffered two separate injuries during this term, the former Man United defender registered 34 appearances for the Baggies, starting every single one of these and again showing how vital the Welshman Pulis, considered Evans for his side.

But despite a primarily positive contribution, Pulis did reveal how difficult the Northern Irishman could be to manage, citing his mental angst surrounding injuries as a "pain in the backside".

Pulis told The Under the Cosh Podcast:"He was a pain in the backside at times! We used to argue like hell. I always thought with Jonny, with players like that you always think I can get a little bit more out of them.

"Jonny is like a racehorse - he's a proper, proper thoroughbred. If he had any injuries, he'd be worried that if he did anything and it got worse. When I had spoke to Sir Alex, Sir Alex told me that he had this mental issue".

Pulis also stated how despite these mental frustrations, Evans was excellent for West Brom.

"We had some good players at West Brom," he said. "Jonny Evans was a fabulous player. We used to argue like hell, but my god - good player".

As Baggies bounced from strength to strength, they battled interest from the pinnacle of the English pyramid

Although West Brom dropped a position from the 2014/15 season to 15/16, 16/17 was where Evans really got to prove his ambition of pushing Albion "up the league".

The Baggies bounced from 14th to 10th that season, soaring into the top half of the table for the first time since Albion's eighth-place finish in 2012/13.

Evans played another 31 games for the club and started all but one.

Pulis' plan was working, he had stabilised the ship in his first two seasons at the helm and had now seen the Baggies battling up the table, again cementing themselves as one of the Premier League's perennial players.

But as Albion again looked a mainstay in the division going into 2017/18, bigger fish began to circle, the first of which being Manchester City who had their sights set on Baggies' Northern Irish international.

Pulis had already fended off interest earlier in the window from Midlands rival, Leicester City, with the Foxes rumoured to have put in a £10m bid. However, after losing skipper Darren Fletcher already in the summer, Pulis was determined to keep his senior structure intact, setting a £25m price tag for the defender.

Man City were next to test Albion's resolve as new boss Pep Guardiola lodged two bids for Evans throughout the summer window, the final of which being a mouthwatering £18m bid that, after being rejected, saw the Blues' interest come to a close.

Baggies couldn't quite relax on deadline day either, with Leicester returning to renew their interest and Arsenal igniting theirs in Albion's 29-year-old, but Pulis made the difficult call to reject what would have been the club's highest transfer fee of all time at £25m.

As Baggies began to drop, West Brom would rue the rejected fee

Unfortunately, this story never ended up with a happy ending from a West Brom point of view with the Baggies coming to regretfully rue the rejection of £25m for their 29-year-old, especially considering the fee they would go on to receive just a year later.

Despite Evans taking the captain's armband in Fletcher's absence, the defender was unable to pull the side from their slumber as they struggled this time out, again registering 31 appearances for the Baggies, but very quickly their position appeared tenuous, culminating with the removal of Pulis in November after taking only four points from their previous 22.

Attention quickly turned to Evans, with January action needed to secure the financial future of the centre-half as a relegation release clause loomed dangerously, especially with West Brom dipping their toes into the division's danger zone.

But Baggies held firm, refusing to accept the reduced fees offered by Leicester, Man City, and Arsenal in the winter window, and held onto their survival prayer.

However, this would never be answered, and West Brom ended their eight-year stay in the top flight and were relegated with time to spare.

Just as things didn't look like they could get any worse for the West Midlands side, they were forced to swallow an even more bitter pill when the summer window opened up, and they were reduced to mere spectators as Evans' relegation release clause was matched by the Foxes and he would leave the club for just £3.5m, only a year after rejecting £25m bids for the Northern Irishman.

After leaving the deflated Baggies, Evans started to soar and still refuses to call time on a storied career

Evans joined the Foxes in the summer of 2018/19, but as he approached his formative years no one expected his next spell may be his greatest yet.

The Northern Irishman would have a five-season spell at Leicester City where he would once again find his fitness, notably not missing a Premier League match in the 2019/20 season, where the Foxes earned a return to the European stage.

The highlight of his time in the East Midlands would undoubtedly be Leicester's 2020/21 1-0 FA Cup final triumph over Chelsea, an achievement in which Evans was able to play a much bigger part than any trophy won previously at Manchester United.

But as Evan's injury concerns began to crop up again as the seasons progressed, it appeared father time had finally caught up with the former Man United man, and the twilight of a storied spell was approaching.

Managing to find his feet on the pitch only 14 times in the 2022/23 season, history repeated itself and just when Leicester looked like a secure and stable Premier League outfit, the top tier of the English game demonstrated just how destructive it can be if you suffer a slow start, and just like West Brom five years prior, Leicester and Evans were relegated to the Championship.

However, again Evans found the fitting final act before hanging up the boots and was re-signed to his boyhood club, Manchester United, eight years after leaving for West Brom after impressing manager Erik ten Hag in the pre-season of 2023/24.

After beginning as a squad player, a defensive injury crisis propelled the Northern Irish international back into the Man United XI, and despite a disappointing domestic season when they finished just eighth in the league, Evans made 30 appearances, two back in Europe's premier competition, and repeated the feat of 2020/21, winning the FA Cup once again despite missing the final through injury.

Evans earned a one-year contract extension to stay at the Red Devils for another year and continues to play a part in the sleeping giants of English football as Ruben Amorim attempts to be the latest to seize them from their slumber.

The future of Evans playing a part in this is still unknown, but whatever the case may be when the Northern Irish defender eventually calls time on his celebrated career, it will be one looked back on as fabled, winning as much as he possibly could and becoming an instrumental cog in the orchestra of every club he wore the shirt for.