It's unthinkable to suggest that Guardiola hasn't personally approved of a move for Evans. Presumably he thinks that, for the budget we have remaining, Evans ticks a lot of boxes - homegrown, left sided, experienced, leadership qualities, familiar with the league etc.
Still seems expensive given his age, but in many regards it's a fairly pragmatic, if somewhat underwhelming, signing.
Given that we missed out on Mbappe and Sanchez looks increasingly unlikely, isn't our budget much bigger now?