Chelsea deal Newcastle blow as ‘interest grows’ in £65m swap deal to suit Crystal Palace
Chelsea could be about to hijack Newcastle’s move for centre-back Marc Guehi as Blues ‘interest grows’ in a swap deal that would suit Crystal Palace.
Eddie Howe has made Guehi his top centre-back target this summer and reports suggest Newcastle have had a £50m knocked back by Palace after it was claimed earlier this week that differences in valuation puts the deal in a ‘precarious state’.
‘Interest in Crystal Palace’s England centre-back is very real and i understands the player is very much open to moving to St James’ Park. The two clubs are talking and snatching England’s breakout Euros star would be arguably Newcastle’s most significant signing since taking Sandro Tonali from Milan over a year ago.
‘But despite ongoing conversations it is understood no fee has been agreed just yet – Palace’s asking price is understood to be “north of £65m” – and it feels as if the move is still in a precarious state. Rival Premier League interest exists although neither Liverpool nor any other club has made a move for him yet.
‘Intriguingly, other defensive targets exist. i understands there have been talks on another centre-back in the last week and they could be running parallel with the Guehi negotiations. They retain interest in Malick Thiaw of Milan and while Guehi feels like the ultimate prize, don’t rule out a surprise target emerging.’
And now Express claim former club Chelsea have come forward to battle Newcastle for the 24-year-old; their ‘interest is growing’ in the Cobham academy graduate.
The Blues have already signed two centre-backs this summer, landing Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer from Fulham while Aaron Anselmino has been signed for £17m from Boca Juniors.
But Anselmino won’t officially arrive until January 2025 while Adarabioyo’s displays in pre-season have left plenty to be desired.
The Blues conceded 12 goals across their five pre-season games and were perhaps fortunate it was only that many, with new manager Enzo Maresca raising concerns over the defending.
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Trevoh Chalobah was not included on that tour of the United States and has been asked to train with the reserves after the first-team players returned to Cobham.
And after reports claimed Palace were interested in the 25-year-old as a replacement for Guehi, Chelsea are reportedly looking into using one academy graduate in part-exchange for the return of another.
Chalobah turned down a move to Nottingham Forest last season, and they also remain interested, but after Chalobah begrudgingly accepted his future lies away from Stamford Bridge, he’s reportedly told the club he would like to join Inter Milan.
The Serie A side are unlikely to stump up the £25m Chelsea want for their defender though and the Blues would rather use him to re-sign Guehi, whom they sold to Palace for £20m in 2021.
Chelsea included a 20 per cent sell-on clause in that transfer, which would see £10m of a £60m offer from Newcastle go to the Blues rather than Palace.
The report states ‘that is why a swap deal involving Chalobah and a sizeable sum payable by Chelsea could appeal to both teams’.
