Fulham deliver Newcastle United transfer blow as Crystal Palace chairman has already laid out stance on double exit
The latest transfer talk from Newcastle United as the Magpies continue with their attempts to sign a defender.
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish seems to have cast major doubt over Marc Guehi’s potential move to Newcastle United after authorising the sale of former Magpies target Joachim Andersen.
The Denmark international centre-back was believed to be on United’s radar last summer as they looked to boost Eddie Howe’s defensive ranks - but he now looks set to join former club Fulham just over three years after spending a successful loan spell at Craven Cottage. Palace won the race to take Andersen to the Premier League on a permanent basis after they agreed a £17m fee with French club Lyon and the centre-back has gone on to make over 100 appearances for the Selhurst Park club.
However, Fulham’s own attempts to land a defender saw them turn towards a potential deal for Andersen and after having two offers rebuffed over the last fortnight, the Cottagers agreed a fee believed to be worth around £30m and are now discussing personal terms with the 28-year-old defender. Eagles supremo Parish described Andersen as ‘a sensational footballer’ and hinted last week his sale would mean Guehi would remain at Selhurst Park.
He told BBC Sport; “That’s an interesting one because I can’t imagine a situation where we would lose both of our centre-halves. Again, Joachim, he’s a special lad and very much at the heart of what we do. He’s like our quarterback at the heart of that back three, a sensational footballer. We have got to sit and think about what is the right thing to do, what the players want to do. If both of them are still here at the end of the window I wouldn’t be surprised.”
However, reports Palace are making progress in their bid to sign Wolfsburg defender Maxence Lacroix may well offer Newcastle some hope a deal can be successfully negotiated over the final week of the summer transfer window. Sky Sports News have reported the Magpies and their Premier League rivals remain in talks over the deal despite Palace rebuffing four previous offers for the former Chelsea academy product. Newcastle are described as ‘hopeful of reaching a compromise with Palace’ before the summer transfer window comes to a close at 11pm on Friday week.
There have also been reports suggesting Newcastle were already considering alternatives to Guehi as the talks over a move for the England star continue. Chelsea academy product Trevoh Chalobah, Liverpool and England star Joe Gomez, AC Milan’s Malick Thiaw and Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba are all said to be under consideration as the Magpies look to add a defender to their squad over the next week.
Speaking of the chase for Guehi ahead of Saturday’s win against Southampton, Howe said: “I can only control myself and what I say and I try to do that as well as I can. You're not in control of every aspect of the deal, other clubs, and sometimes your own club. There's loads of different ways to work. I don't comment on transfer speculation more out of respect for other clubs and players. I know that's how I'd want to be treated the other way. We have done [walked away] many times especially early on when there was very much a Newcastle tax. When we would turn up the price would double. Many times we would not go down that road where we are overpaying for players. I think it has changed slightly because people have seen our dynamic and we aren't going to pay silly fees for players.”