Newcastle United issue transfer warning after making club-record bid - 'likely' decision imminent
Eddie Howe stressed Newcastle United would not pay ‘silly’ money for players after a reported £65million bid was made for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi.
The £65million bid was Newcastle’s fourth and would represent a club-record transfer if accepted by Palace. But according to Sky Sports, the bid is ‘likely to be rejected’ by The Eagles.
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish issued a firm stance on Guehi earlier this week, describing the defender as a ‘generational talent’.
“If you want a superstar player, you need to pay superstar money,” Parish said in response to the rejected bids made for Guehi.
Should Palace reject Newcastle’s latest bid, new sporting director Paul Mitchell will have a decision to make regarding whether to return with another proposal for Guehi. But United head coach Howe is comfortable with the club walking away from any deal that requires ‘silly fees’ to be paid.
“We have [walked away] many times in my time here especially when there was a Newcastle tax on any deal,” Howe admitted. “We would phone up and the price would double. We would say we are not going down that road and not overpaying for players.
“That has changed slightly. People have seen we will not pay silly fees for players. It has returned to normality.”
Guehi is expected to captain Crystal Palace for their Premier League opener at Brentford on Sunday (2pm kick-off). Newcastle open the season at home to Southampton on Saturday (3pm kick-off) as they look to strengthen defensively in the final weeks of the summer transfer window.
Howe has already bolstered his defensive options with the signing of Lloyd Kelly but with Fabian Schar, Dan Burn and Jamaal Lascelles all over the age of 30 and into the final years of their contracts, it is an area of the squad that has been highlighted as requiring a major addition.