Tony Pulis ready for West Brom contract talks but says there is 'no rush'
Tony Pulis is ready to open talks with Albion chairman John Williams about a new contract but admits there is 'no rush' to get the discussions completed.
The head coach is planning to have an informal chat with Williams, who goes to every Baggies game, after tomorrow's match against Everton at Goodison Park ahead of Chinese owner Guochuan Lai's visit to England.
Lai is coming to The Hawthorns for Albion's next home game a week Saturday against Arsenal but Pulis won't be badgering him about a new contract.
The 59-year-old was handed a 12-month extension in October last year, keeping him contracted to the club until the end of next season.
Williams recently confirmed he was planning to sit down with Pulis and offer him a new deal after the summer transfer window.
The former Stoke boss is enjoying his time at the Baggies and would like to stay on long-term, and today confirmed he was ready to open talks.
"I'll sit down with John and we'll have a chat," said Pulis. "John's coming up to Everton this weekend so we'll have a sit down.
"But there's no rush, no problems to anything we do here. John keeps in touch with what the Chinese owners are thinking.
"Mr Lai talks to John two or three times a week, there's good communication between them. Mr Lai and all the Chinese contingent are actually over for the Arsenal game as well."
Next week Lai will sit down for dinner on Friday night with Pulis, Williams, and the rest of the board, before watching the game against Arsenal on Saturday.
He will then fly back to Shanghai, where he spends the majority of the season, on Saturday night.
So far this season, Albion's owner has been to home games against Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Manchester City.
Eighth-placed Albion travel to Goodison Park tomorrow to face the Toffees, knowing a win will lift them to within a point of Ronald Koeman's side.
"Ronald and Everton are desperate to break into that top six, they've spent quite a bit of money this year and it wouldn't surprise me if they invested heavily again next year to try and get into that group," said Pulis. "They are the closest team without a shadow of a doubt to doing that.
"We know it's going to be tough, they've got a centre-forward (Romelu Lukaku) who scores on a regular basis and is one of the best strikers in the league.
"He's got everything, he's got power and pace, he can cause people problems from all areas. He can run at you, take you on and beat you. He can score off crosses and he's instinctive in the box."
