Newcastle United's pursuit of Marc Guehi set for new twist as Crystal Palace talks continue
The latest transfer talk from Newcastle United as the Magpies look to continue adding to their squad during the final two weeks of the summer transfer window.
Newcastle United’s pursuit of Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi is set to take a fresh twist over the coming days - according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Magpies remain keen to add a centre-back to their squad throughout the remaining two weeks of the summer transfer window and have been heavily linked with moves for the likes of Toulouse star Logan Costa, Chelsea academy product Trevoh Chalobah and Torino defender Alessandro Buongiorno in recent weeks. However, it is Eagles star Guehi that has emerged as United’s primary target and the Magpies have made four unsuccessful offers for the 24-year-old over the last month.
Their latest bid was believed to have got close to Palace’s reported £65m but was not close enough to tempt Eagles supremo Steve Parish into another big money sale after Eagles winger Michael Olise departed to join Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich earlier this summer. The latest rejection came days after Parish warned Newcastle they would have to pay ‘superstar money’ to tempt him into allowing the former Chelsea defender to make the move to the North East.
Speaking last week, he told BBC Sport: "We would like to keep hold of him. There is a price and a situation where we might consider it. Somebody said he is a superstar, so somebody has got to pay superstar money. Realistically, he is homegrown, 24 years old and a sensational talent - so somebody has to make it difficult for us. At the moment, it isn't. He will still be at Crystal Palace at the moment, but it's not impossible [that he goes]. He is certainly not making anybody's life difficult, his agents are decent people.”
Speaking after Magpies centre-back Fabian Schar was shown a contentious red card in Saturday’s narrow home win against Premier League newcomers Southampton, United manager Eddie Howe said of adding to his defensive ranks: “Of course, we're looking in the transfer market, we've got a period of time left and we'll see what we can do.”
Newcastle are believed to be considering other potential options as the summer transfer window rapidly approaches its conclusion but could still return with a fifth offer for Guehi. Transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has reported talks will continue with Palace over the coming days but also revealed the Eagles will offer the defender a new contract if Newcastle fail to meet their demands before the transfer deadline is passed on the final Friday of the month.
Speaking on the Daily Briefing, he said: “There’s still no agreement between Newcastle and Crystal Palace over Marc Guehi, the reports are accurate. Newcastle still want to sign Guehi but there’s still no agreement and so this week talks will continue to understand if they can find a way or not. In case Guehi stays, Palace have prepared new deal proposal for him.”