Chelsea tipped to rival Man Utd and Arsenal for England international who is valued at £60m
Chelsea have been tipped to rival the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal for Marc Guehi as the Crystal Palace defender continues to impress.
The England international is under contract at Selhurst Park until 2026 and the club are said to value him at around £60million.
Plenty of top Premier League clubs have been linked with the 23-year-old of late and Chelsea could be prepared to throw their hat in the ring.
Arsenal have been keeping tabs on Guehi for some time and Man Utd recently made the defender their ‘number one target’ for January, according to reports.
Chelsea sold Guehi to Crystal Palace for around £20m back in 2021 and they would have to pay significantly more than that in order to get him back.
Transfer expert Ben Jacobs thinks that Chelsea could be keeping their eye on Guehi as they consider adding to their backline.
“Keep in mind Mauricio Pochettino would ideally like a bit of proven Premier League quality,” Jacobs told Caught Offside.
“That’s why I would keep an eye on Chelsea entering the race for a player like Marc Guehi, who they sold to Crystal Palace in 2021.
“Plenty of clubs are looking. There’s nothing advanced at Chelsea’s end yet, and there may be a bit of a difference of opinion between the profile in this position that Pochettino wants (for the ‘now’) and the recruitment team are trying for (depth, or for the ‘future’).
“I would imagine during December there will be some healthy internal debate.”
As things stand, Crystal Palace seem unlikely to sell the defender in January, although the club could be more open to his sale in the summer.
Only Arsenal have kept more clean sheets in the Premier League this season than Palace have and Guehi has played a key role in their defensive setup.
Roy Hodgson clearly holds the 23-year-old in high regard as he believes the defender should be a regular starter for England.
“I think that Marc Guhi has more than established himself really as a person that Gareth [Southgate] is going to need and will count on going forward,” Hodgson told reporters.
“There’s always going to be competition when you play for England, but the way he’s been going recently it might be a question of people having to knock him off his spot rather than him having to knock someone else off their spot.
“There’s no reason why he shouldn’t be [first-choice centre-back], but a national team coach has probably got more headaches even than a club coach because we have a somewhat more limited number of players to choose from.”
