Alan Pardew has no plans to sell West Brom captain Jonny Evans in January

The new Baggies boss is a huge fan of Evans and even tried to sign him from Manchester United on two occasions when he was in charge of Newcastle.

The Northern Irishman, whose contract runs out in 2019, was the subject of several bids in the summer from Manchester City, Leicester City, and Arsenal.

It's believed City and Arsenal are planning to return with further offers once the January transfer window opens - but Pardew does not want the 29-year-old to go.

“He’s a terrific player and somebody I would like to keep here way past the window," said Pardew.

“He will certainly stay as captain. A couple of times in my career I have tried to sign Jonny Evans and he probably knew that so that helped him.

“There was a spell at Newcastle where I looked at Jonny for a while."

Pardew has only had two days with his team but he's had one-on-ones with all of the senior players except the injured Chris Brunt.

However, he says the subject of Evans's future did not crop up in his talk with his captain that was primarily focused on this Saturday's game with Crystal Palace.

“I have spoken to every senior player, with the exception of Chris Brunt, who I will get around to at some stage," said Pardew. “I will probably speak to him on Monday now.

“I have spoken to most of the senior players and asked them what they feel would help make the job easier for me.

“I have taken all of that on board and me and (No.2) John (Carve) have discussed that and discussed it with Big Darren (Moore) as well and hopefully we’ve got the clues to try to get it right.

“I didn’t bring that (Evans's future) up (with him) and I didn’t think it was necessary."

Pardew is planning to turn to his experienced players in his first game in charge this weekend, but he says the whole squad have blank slates with him because he's never managed any of Albion's crop before.

“Me and John couldn’t believe we hadn’t managed any of the players," he said. "Not one has come across our paths, which is very weird.

“Something is not right there. Either we can’t spot a good player when we see one, or something is wrong, but in a way it’s a good thing because we’re fresh to the playing staff.

“There is no player who has made a mistake for us or let us down so we are literally zero and that’s good.

“And we haven’t made a mistake for them either, because we make mistakes as well - the wrong substitution at the wrong time or a training session where someone gets injured.

“So at the moment we’re all neutral, which is great and hopefully it will all be positive after the game."