Newcastle overtake Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd in race for £60m-rated Premier League star

Newcastle United have reportedly begun talks with Crystal Palace over signing centre-back Marc Guehi, but face competition from in and outside the Premier League.

The defender began his career at Chelsea and despite starring in their youth setup, the Ivory Coast-born player was never able to make his breakthrough at Stamford Bridge.

Guehi impressed a great deal in his second loan spell at Championship side Swansea City in 2020/21 and that prompted Crystal Palace to take a punt on him.

After just two appearances for the Blues’ first-team, the Eagles signed the then 21-year-old on a five-year deal for a fee in the region of £18m in 2021 – making him the club’s third-most expensive signing behind Mamadou Sakho (£26m) and Christian Benteke (£32m).

Since then, he has become one of Palace’s best players, racking up 111 appearances in all competitions and bagging five assists for the south London outfit.

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His performances did not go unnoticed by then-England boss Gareth Southgate, who handed Guehi all 17 of his international caps; while making him a regular in the Three Lions’ defence for Euro 2024.

With his stock continuing to rise, fears have grown amongst Palace fans that Guehi may make a big-money exit from Selhurst Park this summer, not long after star winger Michael Olise joined Bayern Munich for just over £50m.

The Eagles want to keep onto attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze – who reportedly has a £60m release clause and is contracted until 2027 – as well but for the time being, Guehi is the man in demand.

Newcastle begin ‘meaningful talks’ with Palace over Guehi

TEAMtalk previously revealed Liverpool were keeping tabs on the 24-year-old but according to The Athletic, Newcastle have opened negotiations with Palace about signing the 6ft player.

The report states Guehi is high on the recruitment lists at a number of ‘Europe’s biggest clubs’ but Newcastle are the first to enter into ‘meaningful talks’ about recruiting the Palace ace.

If signed, he would be an ‘immediate’ starter for the Magpies but there is no mention of a potential fee for the centre-back – whose contract runs until 2026.

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TalkSPORT, however, claims Palace want at least £60m for the Arsenal and Manchester United-linked player, a fee TEAMtalk understands has put off Liverpool.

Incidentally, it is understood there has been no sign of Guehi extending his stay at Selhurst Park, which may encourage the Eagles to entertain a sale this summer.

Indeed, manager Oliver Glasner admitted there was “no guarantee” Palace would be able to hold onto star trio Guehi, Eze, and Olise – with the latter since heading to the Bundesliga.

In April, the Austrian said: “All we can do is show our ambition, show them they are very important players for us, show them from a sports perspective that we are competitive with many teams in the Premier League, that we want to improve, and that they play key parts in our system.

“But there is also no guarantee. The transfer window, when it opens, is sometimes crazy for several weeks. We are part of it and can’t stop it, but we do our job — showing them the vision, showing them how we want to play, what their role can be. We will see what happens.”